Emotion Potion and an Ice Mage
by TheFanFictionalist
Summary: When Juvia has another plan to get Gray to notice her feelings, it takes a huge turn involving the entire guild this time and she unexpectedly brings about more love rivals on her quest to win Gray's heart. But what about Gray? Does he already like one of these rivals? Rated T for language in later chapters.(First fanfiction)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** _This is my first fanfic so thank you for taking the time to read it and please leave a comment on anything I can improve on. I look forward toward your opinions._

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 **Chapter 1**

As the day began with the sun shining bright and the streets filled with people living their normal lives in the city of Magnolia, a giddy water mage was making her way towards her guild that housed her beloved Gray-sama. In her hands she held a pinkish bottle with a purple liquid sloshing around as she walked, careful in not dropping the potion bound to have her love understand how she sees him once he drinks it. Her smile grew wide with anticipation as her hope in succeeding grew stronger; always remembering the countless times she had failed or when a guild mate had foiled her plan without their knowing (mainly Natsu and his brawls). It was just yesterday on her way to the train station after a completed job, that the town was having a market day and let herself look at what they were selling.

FLASHBACK

 _The town of Munko, a little ways away from Magnolia, was cheerful with vendors calling out what they were selling from their market shops and Juvia enjoyed looking at the multiple objects that were on display. As she made her way around the streets looking at every shop, one had caught her eye. A small shop building colored with purple stood in between two sellers of magical items, but this one somehow drew her inside. Juvia looked upon multiple potions lining the walls on shelves, made with different magical purposes until an old man sitting at a counter called out to her._

" _Well hello young lady, is there anything that catches your interests?" He said as Juvia made her way towards him._

" _Juvia is only seeing, Juvia wishes to know what types of potions you are selling." She asked as the glow from a few of the flasks began to glow beautifully._

" _Well, I sell multiple types here. From elemental to fool around with, elixirs to heal or mend things that are broken and potions that is unique to the buyers." He replied as he pointed to different areas of the shop._

" _What do you mean by 'unique to the buyer'?"_

" _These are special requested potions that I create for the buyer here, which I believe can interest you." He said as the water mage was slightly daydreaming from what the possibilities can of this._

" _Can you create a potion that can express Juvia's feelings to Gray-sama, so that he understands how Juvia sees and feels about him?" She questioned happily as her eyes shone brighter than before._

" _Why yes I can do that, it isn't really the first time I've done a request although it is with a mage such as you." He said as he signaled her to follow him to the back, where he had his apparatus to create magical potions on a table ready for use._

" _Juvia will be delighted to see Gray-sama truly understand Juvia's feelings."_

" _Well let's get started, but remember to be very careful with how you use it. Accidents do happen and the consequences can appear very rapidly."_

FLASHBACK END

Juvia took heed of what the old man said and was cautious, and constantly skipped when her imagination ran wild with the thought of her Gray-sama taking her into his arms and kissing her tenderly and then he'd take it up a notch by sliding his icy tongue into her mouth and his hand would slowly creep up her thigh until she felt it on her-

"Hey Juvia!" Her obscene imagination was cut short when the voice of her number one love rival came jogging to catch up to her. Juvia immediately hid the potion away and acted as normal as possible.

"Lucy-san good afternoon, Juvia thought you'd already be at the guild." She said as the two guild mates made their way down the streets to their guild.

"Well I would've been if Natsu and Happy didn't wreck my home before I kicked them out, leaving me stuck to clean it up." She said with an exhausted sigh as the guild drew nearer now.

"Natsu-san does seem to be a handful at times, but I do believe he'll grow out of it in time." Juvia replied stepping into the guild surprised to see a large table of food, desserts and punch all shown off to the side with a smiling Mirajane nearby. The other members were off enjoying the food and drinks at tables and the two mages were curious of what was going on.

"Hey Mira, what's going on around here?" Questioned Lucy as the once rowdy guild toned down a bit, but enough to keep its normal fun charm.

"Hi there Lucy and Juvia, were actually celebrating Fairy Tail's 30,000th successful mission and it put everyone in high spirits to know we received so many jobs of the course of the years." Mira replied sweetly as she brought them to table and served them some of the food that was there.

"That's amazing Mira, I'm surprised Natsu and Gray haven't destroyed anything yet or has Erza stopped them before we got here." Lucy said as Juvia looked at the punch bowl with an idea popping into her head.

"Freed managed to place a rune barrier protecting the food just in case a usual brawl breaks out and those two have actually calmed themselves for today." Mira replied with a kind smile as she went off to serve others.

"If Lucy-san can excuse Juvia, Juvia is thirsty and is going to get some punch." Juvia said acting as innocent as possible, walking away with a devious plan set in motion.

She quickly made her way to the bowl and kept an eye out if anyone would notice her, but luckily everyone was too engrossed with their conversations or food to take notice. As swiftly as she could, Juvia took the potion and dropped a bit in a cup to offer Gray, making it fool proof to work, that is until Natsu came right beside her and drank the cup she served. With a shocked expression she looked on as he drank it down sighing in content.

"Sorry Juvia, but I had to get that nasty taste from my mouth!" Natsu explained as he licked his lips from any leftover punch. "This tastes pretty good, I'm sure Erza would like maybe even Lucy." He said before rushing off to find the other two mages.

Juvia panicked when she heard her Love Rival and Erza would soon come and her plan can't continue if they caught her. She grabbed the potion in her hands again ready to try another tactic until Natsu bumped right into her, causing her hand to slip as she juggled the container until she securely grabbed it and faced Natsu with a frustrated expression.

"Sorry about that Juvia, I slipped on one of Happy's fish." Natsu said rubbing the back of his head as she saw that a blue fish was under his foot.

"Juvia understands and asks that Natsu –san be more careful next time." She replied letting go of a sigh, but unbeknownst to her all the contents of her flask were emptying out into the punch bowl.

She stepped away and made sure no one could see the flask and hid behind a pillar, however the face of utter horror displayed on her face as she looked at the empty flask. It didn't do her mood any good when she noticed more of her guild mates drinking the sweetened punch and her plan failing once again since they had emptied it out before Gray could get a cup. She cried anime tears as her beloved didn't get a taste of Juvia's love for him and went to sulk at a table with Gajeel.

"What's the matter rain woman?" He asked taking a sip of a drink he had and Juvia's face brightened red with embarrassment when she realized that he was drinking her emotion potion to the last drop.

"Juvia has failed on her plan…" She said sulkily, placing her head down onto the table as the dragon slayer looked at her in confusion before shrugging it off and went on to eat his bowl of metal.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** _Here's the second chapter and to give a head's up, think of all the interactions with the guys the same way the Earthland Sugarboy did with Gray to give an idea on how they see him. Please leave a review, I'm always looking for things to improve on._

Chapter 2

While Juvia continued to sulk alongside her first friend from Phantom Lord, the Ice mage was a little ticked off as he sat with his team, arms folded across his chest and a scowl glared to a pink haired dragon slayer. He had just gone to the bathroom for less than a few minutes and when he came back everyone was drinking away the punch and before he could even grab a cup for himself to see how it tastes, Natsu comes around and knocks him off his feet. Not long later a fight between the two broke out that was immediately stopped by Erza just as soon as Gray fought back.

"Sorry you missed out on the punch Gray." Lucy said as she looked at the scowling Ice mage before he sighed and turned his attention to her.

"It's fine, the damned flaming hot head's the reason why I didn't get any." He replied while said hot head glared back with a smirk crossed against his face.

"You were too slow ice princess, you snooze you lose." Natsu said with a taunting tone before he felt something odd shake from deep within him as he looked at Gray.

"Tch, whatever flame breath." Then before Natsu's very eyes, the scene of Gray surrounded by flowers with an unbelievable beautification to his very being was shown as he looked back with sad shy eyes.

 _"Please understand Natsu, that what you're saying affects me more than you think."_ The newly imaged Gray said as Natsu immediately jumped away from the booth, his heart beating much faster than it normally does and he couldn't find the words to say anything.

"The Fu-" Natsu couldn't finish his sentence as a hard glare from Erza stopped him, since he fully knows her opinion of foul language in her presence. The rest of Team Natsu looked at him strangely as he kept his distance before turning around and walking away brisk-fully.

"What in the hell was that all about?" Gray mused as Erza shrugged her shoulders, while Happy gave off his signature 'Aye' as he continued to eat his fish. Out of everyone, Lucy had noticed how his stare completely changed as he looked at Gray. She looked at him as well, trying to figure out what he saw, but as she continued to look at his features her mind kept her true feelings at bay.

Although her mind made sure she was conscious of how her feelings for Gray should be kept hidden, the potion she unknowingly drank made said ability an uphill battle. It was as if the world around her had stopped and the one thing she saw was a beautified Gray in front of her. Lucy's mind kicked into over drive as Gray leaned over the table and placed the back of his cool hand on her forehead. She thought he used his magic because she was frozen on the spot.

"Hey are you alright?" He said as the beating of her heart increased ten-fold.

 _Luce, please tell me you're alright. You're burning up and I'm worried that you're getting sick, but don't worry I'll take care of you."_ Lucy was in fact blushing by the gesture, but mildly where as now her cheeks rivaled that of Erza's hair. Said mage had taken interest in the blonde's behavior as she didn't make eye contact with Gray.

Lucy reached up and moved Gray's hand away, laughing very nervously as her heart wouldn't settle down and her mind couldn't think of anything to clearly say. Luckily she was saved when an obnoxious blue cat said his favorite catch phrase to potential couples.

"She lllliiiikeeeesss him!" This in turn snapped her back into reality and helped her clear her mind for an excuse.

"Can it you stupid cat!" Lucy exclaimed as she stood up from the booth, "I'm going to see what happened to Natsu." With that she went on her way with a mocking Happy following right behind her, giggling at the blonde's reaction.

"Well that was weird, what do you think Erza" Gray said as he turned to look at the Scarlet, but found out she was busy eating her favorite strawberry cheesecake. He sighed assuming that she didn't pay much attention to what had happened, but he didn't know that she used it as a distraction.

When Gray was checking on Lucy, Erza felt something tug at her heart strings seeing the blonde get his attention. Something inside of her wanted to push Lucy out of the way and have Gray to herself, but she knew that she had to restrain herself before she did something she come to regret. Luckily she remembered that her cheesecake was right next her and focused on that, but she was shocked that it did little to keep her mind at ease.

"I believe she was just a bit off for the time being Gray." Erza said, finishing off her cheesecake until realizing that it was just herself and Gray.

Immediately she knew something was off because her confidence was slowly melting away with Gray looking right at her. She didn't understand how her own barrier of sternness was dwindling just by being looked at and soon enough her image of Gray had also changed. Instead of flowers however, she saw him with strawberry cheesecake in his hand smiling kindly to her as she felt like she was losing herself in his dark pools.

She came to when Gray shook her shoulder gently, trying to avoid being struck if Erza was out of it. That reflex has gotten him a number of times and he's got witnesses to back him up, but he found it hilarious when it was Nastu being set flying.

"Hey Erza, you alright?" He asked pulling his hand back down to the table as she blinked once she was out of her fantasy. "You kinda spaced out there for a bit."

"I'm fine Gray, if you'll excuse me I'm going to get some more cake." He nodded as she stood up and went for the dessert table, thinking hard of what just happened. _"What is happening to me, why did I feel as if Lucy was taking him away from me?"_ Erza thought getting closer to the table, hoping some more cake would sooth her mind a little more.

Back at the table, Gray sat there completely confused with everyone's behavior except for Happy's because he seemed normal enough in his way. Not long into his thoughts was he then interrupted by someone plopping down next to him. He looked to see a drinking Cana smiling at him, beer in her hand as she giggled to herself. At least the card mage would keep him company until the others came back.

"Hey Cana, what's up?" He asked as she finished her mug with a satisfied lick of her lips.

"Nothing much, but Gray I've got to tell you something." She said, her giggling continued although the blush on her face was unclear if it came from her drinking or if it was natural.

"Alright shoot, what do you need to say?"

"I think that you are one hot ass guy!"

"...What?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** _I wanted to update sooner but I got side tracked and busy, so as a way of making it up, I made it much longer than what it originally was going to be. As always, looking forward to your opinions. Here's chapter three I hope you enjoy it!_

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Chapter 3

Gray was a taken aback by Cana's claim until he quickly guessed that she was already drunk and just drunkenly babbling things that came to mind. He looked over at her again and heaved a sigh, believing that his guess was correct and that she wouldn't remember much of what she said. Although there were a few other guild mates who heard, just like Gray, they thought that she was drunk, but there was a few who knew she wasn't yet. These were the ones who looked on at the two from the very beginning and shared the same feeling of wanting to get Cana as far away from Gray as possible.

"You got me there for a second there Cana. You got drunk a lot sooner than I thought or have you've been asking Mira for something stronger this time around?" Gray said as Cana pouted cutely at him.

"I'm not that drunk yet Gray. I meant what I said about you." Cana replied and an adorable blush formed on her face as she met eyes with Gray.

His voice immediately was caught in his throat; he was shocked to know that meant it. He knew that he was a good looking guy, no doubt about that, but hearing it from Cana was something he didn't think would happen. He tried to keep his always present cool exterior, but the slight pink tint on his cheeks was anything but helping him keep it up. Before he could even muster a word to reply her with, Erza had appeared at their table with a stern look on her face. The one Gray knew all too well he got in a fight with Natsu.

"Hello Cana, what are you two talking about?" She said taking an authoritative stance, one hand on her hip while the other had her plate of cheesecake. Gray might have breathed in an air of relief if it weren't for Cana sliding straight to him and curling up against him.

"Oh nothing much Erza, just how I find Gray to be the hottest guy here. It's a shame no one here noticed Gray like I do, I mean c'mon Erza you're in the same team as him." A flirty smile formed on her lips as she looked to Gray and Erza immediately wanted to get her so far away from him.

Gray was amazed at how bold Cana was for saying something like, especially to Erza and the stare she was giving told him that things could get messy. He needed to think of something quick before Erza blows her top on Cana and no one wants to see that. Okay maybe some people do, including Gray, but now's not the time for such fantasies.

"It's alright Erza; I just think she drank too much." Gray chimed in, quickly getting himself and Cana on their feet. She whined to him that she wasn't drunk, yet Gray ignored those claims and looked back to Erza to see if she bought it.

"Well I guess there's no help for that, fine I guess she has been drinking a little too much for today." She replied setting her cheesecake down on the table to enjoy it.

"I'll take her to the counter to see if Mira might have something for her." With that Gray walked Cana away from the table and let out a sigh of relief for a crisis averted.

"How come you did that Gray, I was just telling her the truth." Cana said giggling to herself again, while Gray rolled his eyes at her unusual care freeness.

"I was saving your ass from getting a beating from Erza back there. I don't know if you noticed, but that's the vibe I was getting from her." He replied as they got closer to the bar counter as Cana immediately latched on to his arm.

"Maybe I should repay you for saving one hot girl from getting hurt." She said with a seductive look that got Gray slightly blushing again and her smile grew even bigger.

A little ways away from the two, jealous stares had been pointed at Cana mainly coming from the resident water mage seeing as her potion had a much stronger effect than she believed. It was angering her that this bold act and forwardness came from the potion she brought. Gajeel on the other hand was amused with how the rain woman was beginning to grip the table so tightly that it began to splinter in some areas, but he also felt a bit odd seeing Gray held by the drinker. He watched as the two mages sat down at the counter and deiced to ignore both them and the weird feeling inside of him for the meantime.

At another table Natsu sat with Happy and Lucy, trying to understand why his vision did that with Gray. It never did it when he saw him, heck it never really ever happened to him when he looked at other people. So why was Gray the only one that had completely changed in his sight of vision? He kept trying to think of any possible reason and Lucy looked at him questioningly since he hasn't deep in thought before.

"Natsu sure is thinking pretty hard, huh?" Happy said as he continued to munch on his fifth fish since leaving their previous table.

"I hope he doesn't hurt himself." Lucy replied with a slight giggle, her own thoughts cleared and mind began thinking clearly again after that small ordeal with Gray. She too was feeling peeved at how Cana held onto Gray, as if she was the one that got him first.

"Ugh! I give up, Luce can you help me? Natsu asked as he couldn't do this on his own anymore.

"Uh…Sure what do you need my help on?" She asked as he plopped his head onto the table looking at the counter where Gray was now moving away from a smiling Cana to sit somewhere else.

"What does it mean when you see someone differently, as in they look much better than they normally do and there's like flowers and stuff around them?" he didn't move his gaze as he said this and Lucy followed where he was looking at. She saw what seemed to be him looking at Lisanna and a smile formed on her face as she realized what he's going through.

"Aww, I know what that means Natsu…" She said with a knowing face as Natsu became excited to know what it meant.

"Lucy looks weird with that face" Happy said which Lucy repaid his comment by bashing the back of his head with her fist.

"Shut it cat! Anyways what you told me means that-" Before she could finish her sentence a bright flash appeared and now sitting next to her was her Lion spirit.

"It means that you really like someone." He answered as Lucy puffed up her cheeks from being interrupted by the flirty lion.

"What!" He exclaimed with a face of horror at the revelation, did he like his rival in that way now? It was absurd and completely impossible that he would really like the ice princess as Loke said he did.

"I don't see the problem Natsu; it looks like you've actually shown some interest in someone." Loke said as he leaned back into his seat and Lucy agreed with him, but the look didn't seem to fade from his face.

"I think it's perfectly alright for you to like someone Natsu. As far as I know you've never really shown an interest in anybody since I joined here." Lucy continued as that devious smile made its way back onto her face.

"Natsu llllllliiiiiikkkkeeessss someone" Happy said as he regained his consciousness after Lucy's head blow.

"I thought you were on my side Happy!" Natsu whined as his best bud through that catchphrase at him.

"Aye, but I hardly ever do this to you so I'll stick to it." Happy said with his paw raised as Natsu got back to his feet ready to end all of this nonsense.

"Where are you going?" Loke asked looking at Natsu as he made his way to the bar.

"To make sure my head's straight." He replied although the others were confused on how he said that, but it was Natsu, so saying something confusing wasn't really a surprise. It just meant Natsu had his own way of thinking, one they really don't know how it functions.

Back with Gray, he had managed to separate from the drunken, flirty and clingy Cana to the other end of the bar resting his head on his palm as it was propped up on the bar counter. He wanted to go back to his booth, but he was weary of the state Erza was in and his instincts of self preservation kicked in to tell him not to go back. He was busy in his thoughts to notice Mira making her way towards him and before he knew it a mug was placed right in front of him.

"What's the matter Gray, you look pretty worn out" Mira asked as he sighed thankful that he could at least talk to someone for the time being until Erza calmed down and the others came back to the booth.

"It been pretty complicated for me Mira, but hey it's often complicated for me in the guild," He joked, "thanks for this Mira." He said gesturing to the mug, but before he could bring the whole mug to his lips he was shoved forcefully forward by the pink haired dragon slayer.

Gray immediately retaliated, sending Natsu into Elfman which soon began a classic guild brawl, but Gray looked over the counter to see that Mira had fallen back when Gray was shoved forward pretty harshly. He jumped over the counter and offered his hand to help Mira up, seeing that it was partly his fault she fell over.

Mira looked at Gray's hand for a moment and then a sudden urge struck her when she looked at his face. It seemed as of the world stopped so she could only center her attention to him as the ice mage looked at her with concern. Even Mira wasn't sure why her heart seemed to beat faster as she continued to look at him, it only did that when she had a successful couple come together from one of her devious plans.

"Hey Mira are you alright?" Gray asked as she just stayed there looking at him instead of taking his hand.

" _I'm sorry if I hurt you Mira, I hope this doesn't hurt our friendship. I really enjoy being around you Mira."_ Even Mira could not escape the effects of the potion and so she sees the Gray the rest of Team Natsu, save Happy, had seen today.

" _ **Was Gray always this handsome?"**_ Mira thought this as she took Gray's offered hand and let the feel of his cool calloused hand surround her smaller and smoother one. Had she never truly noticed Gray for the man that he grew up to be, instead of the boy that fought Natsu at every turn and stripped without knowledge?

Gray began to feel a blush come on his face as Mira held onto his hand longer than what he expected even if she was on her feet. He turned his head to avoid her seeing his blush and this brought Mira back to her senses, blushing just as equally for being too caught up in the way her hand in his. He chuckled nervously as she finally let go of his hand and passed it through his raven colored hair, while Mira found it to be very cute on how bashful he was being.

"Sorry for toppling you over Mira, I'll beat the snot out of Natsu even harder just for you." He said as he jumped back over the counter and made his way towards the brawl.

"Be careful not to injure them too bad Gray!" She called to him as he turned and gave her thumbs up with a wink and as he walked away she looked back to her hand and a small smile formed on her lips.

"Yeah, be careful my ice mage." Her eyes shot open when she realized what she had said and couldn't believe that something like that came from her.

Sure she has been interested in some people, but to be so struck like that hasn't ever happen to her before. Mira shook her head to clear her thoughts as best she could, but every now and then she would take quick glances to the fighting raven haired boy with a smile she always wore slightly brighter when he looked her way.

"Hey Mira, something good happen to you? You look much happier than you usually do?" Cana asked as she sat near the take-over mage, who was wiping down a few glasses.

"Hmm? Nothing out of the ordinary happened Cana, but I do see something coming soon." She replied with her usual smile on her face, but Cana knew better than to believe that smile. The eldest Strauss sibling had her match-maker aura going, but this time it was in place for herself for the first time since she started doing it.

" _ **Maybe I should get Mira to help me hook up with Gray"**_ Cana thought as turned to look at said mage wrestling Natsu, arms locked not budging an inch. So it seemed that even under the influence of the potion, drinking as much as Cana does has placed its effects to be much more prominent.

With Natsu though, he was enjoying fighting his rival but didn't know how long he could keep this up. The Gray he fought changed midway through their brawl and having him at arm's length made it more difficult to focus on the fighting than his dark pools that seemed as if they could read him like an open book. How he wished for someone to join the fight to get out of this predicament because it'll be a cold day in hell before he forfeited a fight with his rival. Even Erza stopping them would be a better idea, but she wasn't anywhere nearby.

"Give it up ash brain I'm going to beat you and you know it!" Gray taunted as he pushed with more force to overcome him.

"Like hell I will droopy eyes!"Natsu countered with equal force as they wouldn't budge a step further.

" _But if you don't I don't know what I'll do."_

"Just forfeit ice princess; I'll keep pushing if you don't and come after you even harder!"

" _If you do that than I don't know if be able to stop myself from falling in love with you!"_

In that instant, Natsu's world stopped and the last thing he noticed was a fist smashing his cheek into the guild floor.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** _Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I'm sure you guys don't want to read my excuses so I'll let you just go ahead and read the story. As always, I look forward to your reviews. Enjoy!_

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Chapter 4

Natsu's mind ran wild as he tried to make sense of what had just happened, had his own rival since the first day he joined the guild actually confess to him. The thought of it confused him beyond belief and the only thing that brought him around was the laughing that came from above him. He lifted himself into a sitting position on the floor to see a proud Gray in front of him with his arms crossed, looking down on his defeated rival.

"Did he really say he was falling in love with me?" Natsu whispered to himself, but the super-sensitive hearing from the iron dragon slayer caught it and he focused his attention to the two.

"Told you ash face that I'd beat you" Gray said as he flashed a victorious smirk at him, but Natsu only saw a kind smile grow across Gray's face.

He immediately jumped to his feet and gripped Gray's shoulders, a hard glare was set when he was eye to eye with him. He had to know if the ice princess actually meant what he said to him or if it were a bluff to drop his guard.

"Repeat what you said to me ice freak!" Natsu's confusion only fueled his determination and it slightly caused him to wonder what he felt for him.

"You heard me flame face!" Gray was just as stubborn as Natsu when it came to showing dominance over the other, however the case was much different for each. Where Natsu was a sure answer to a confession, Gray saw him questioning his true victory over him.

The two glared at each other harshly, but the scene painted a completely different picture to some of the on lookers. Juvia especially was on the verge of her seat with the strong delusion of witnessing the development of boys' love. Had her mind been in the right place she would've noticed the irked expression of her good friend who was marching his way over to the arguing mages.

Gajeel had tolerated the Salamander being close to the Stripper at the beginning and thought nothing of it, until he heard his claim that the Stripper was falling for him. He had no idea why this began to anger him, that the Stripper was going for that damned pink haired idiot than himself. At that point he completely stopped on his march now realizing that he had just thought of the ice mage in such a different way. The way he had thought of him was how he usually thought of Shrimp, believing that someone else had caught her eye and he couldn't accept that.

"Damn these confusing thoughts" Gajeel said to himself and decided to be an on-looker rather than getting involved to see how it played out. He'll figure out what's going on soon enough, for now he'll just watch.

Back with the arguing mages, Gray was getting tired of Natsu not understanding that he lost and Natsu was getting even more irritated that Gray won't repeat himself. Gray could do this all day if he wanted to, but he was getting uncomfortable with how close Natsu was and the way he held his shoulders. He tried shaking him off multiple times, but the fire eater kept putting them right back on them and he held them as if he were desperate for something.

"I'm telling you ice princess to just repeat what you told me and if you meant it!" Natsu's temper was rising increasingly by the minute and his vision of Gray kept bouncing around at different points.

"I'm not repeating myself for you ash face!" Gray exclaimed, _"It's embarrassing to say something like that again"_ Came the added reply of the other Gray.

"Fine then ice boxers then tell me if you meant it!" Natsu couldn't handle being denied of an answer any longer so he opted out to know if it was the truth or a bluff.

"Of course I meant it!" The reply was the same, but the delivery was viewed in two different perspectives. To everyone else, Gray answered seriously with a no-nonsense expression while to Natsu he answered in a very timid and shy manner.

Once again Natsu froze on the spot with the answer, but before he could come back with any sort of reply he saw Gray get smacked from the back of his head hard. Gray immediately reached for the sore spot and looked to see if Natsu would get a similar punishment from none other than the Titania herself. To his joy, he did although it seemed he was hit even harder given to the fact that it sent him straight into the guild floor.

"That's enough bickering between the both of you. Natsu you got your answer now leave Gray alone. Gray your coming with me this instant understand." Erza said with her commanding tone as she looked between the two.

"Hold up Er-"

"Understand?" Erza cut him off and gave him a stern look, causing him to stop any further argument with her.

"Yes Ma'am!" Gray immediately stood straight, completely on instinct when it came to appeasing the Great Titania.

"Good, now come along." She said walking away and with that Gray followed her still clutching the spot where he was struck, but used his magic to sooth it a bit.

Erza was rational at the correct time and she felt that it was necessary to get Natsu away from Gray, although she only got that far when she knocked down Natsu. Though Erza doesn't find a lot of amusement in beating those two, she had found a bit of satisfaction when she knocked Natsu to the floor. Her mind had somehow viewed Natsu as someone taking Gray away from her for some reason, as if he were a rival but that couldn't be it and besides she was fairly positive that Natsu doesn't swing that way let alone Gray. On the other hand, she can't be too sure so a watchful eye may be a safer bit.

Erza took a glance at the ice mage behind her, still rubbing the back of his head until he caught her gaze and she immdeiately turned her head around. Her heart began to beat fast as she was caught looking by him and her face grew hot of the possible thoughts that might be going through his mind. Erza had never been like this before, save the times with Jellal but those meetings were very spread apart.

Her mind reeled back from that thought. Had she overlooked her crush for Jellal and could only focus on Gray? There was a line drawn on how far she let her feelings interfere with her actions, but the thought of having to choose between the two had never crossed her mind before. Erza couldn't believe that such a sudden choice between the two had come around out of the blue from just the mere mention of Jellal. Would she keep her crush on the man she has come to forgive and understand after the event of the Tower of Heaven or would she look onto a new beginning of a relationship with her childhood friend that was the first to accept her into the guild after that day near the river.

"Hey Erza are you okay?" Gray asked as he gently shook Erza's gauntlet hand seeing as she had been spacing out ever since they sat down. That brought Erza back to her senses and was surprised to know that they were already sitting in their booth although she made sure her surprise wasn't noticeable.

"Yes I'm fine, just had something on my mind is all" She replied letting the quickening beat of her heart slow down so nothing looks out of place.

"If you say so" Gray replied although he was still mindful of Erza's behavior, he was worried about her since she has been acting out of character a few times today.

"Do you guys need anything?" Came Mira's kind voice from right next to Gray's side which came to a relief for him in this awkward moment, but Erza had a strange feeling that there was something off about Mira's demeanor.

"Hey Mira, I'll just take a glass of water and could you please get Erza another slice of cheesecake. Oh and put it on my tab." He said and Erza was about to object before she was stopped by what Mira did next.

Mira leaned over, licked her thumb and rubbed it across Gray's cheek where a trace of dirt caked there from the brawl with Natsu. This would've been seen as a kind act by a friend if it weren't done by the match-make demon right in front of her formal rival, which Erza took as a declaration of competition. The winning prize was the the ice mage, ignorant of the silent challenge made between old rivals.

"What was that for Mira?" Gray asked a little shaken with what she did, but let his cool persona take control.

"You just had a little scuff on your cheek that you had after your fight with Natsu. I just cleaned it for you." She replied sweetly, but Erza knew her too well to know that she has an ulterior motive to her little stunt.

"Uh...Thanks Mira, I guess." Gray truly didn't know how to answer her, but knew better than to offend Mira.

"You should have just told him he had it and let himself clean it off." Erza said as normal as she could although the fist she had hidden under the table looked like it could shatter bone at that point.

"Well I thought it be faster if I just did it for him and besides Gray doesn't seem bothered by it. Are you Gray?"

"I...Uh...well um..."He really didn't want to answer because he already knew that there would be a consequence if he chose either side and he was already hoping for a distraction to save him.

"Sorry ladies, but I need to borrow Gray for a bit. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll answer whatever your question was later." For the many things in the world Gray was thankful for the celestial spirit that came to his rescue.

"Alright Loke, but make sure to bring him back" Mira said and Loke saluted to her before walking away with his former wing-man by his side towards the booth his master sat at.

As the two made their way out of hearing range Mira looked back to Erza who had a serious expression plastered across her face. Obviously she didn't like what Mira did, while the take-over mage smiled in her success getting the Titania into another competition.

"I know what you were doing Mira and I won't allow you to take Gray." Erza knew she had to choose between the two men later, but for now she wouldn't let her rival beat her to the punch if she decided to stay with Gray.

"Cana might be right Erza. She noticed what Gray grew up to be while you hadn't yet even if you were on the same team. Truth be told, I too barely realized how much of a man Gray became."

"So you're becoming my rival for Gray's affection is that it Mira?" Erza knew that there was no way she was about to lose to her old rival when it came to Gray.

"Well I had my suspicions that you were interested in him and now I've got my answer. So yes this means that you, Erza Scarlet, have become my love rival." That sweet tone Mira had spoken to Erza hid the underlying strength of determination that rivaled Erza's.

"Very well, may the best woman win."

The two most powerful women in Fairy Tail have officially made clear their goal, but how long will it be before others come together in a similar fashion for the ice mage?


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note** **:** _The next chapter is out! I'm slightly ahead so there might possibly be another update soon, but I'm still unsure. Anyhow, review if you want and enjoy chapter 5!_

* * *

Chapter 5

"You have some great timing, you know that" Gray joked, as he and Loke made their way from his previous booth to another.

"Nothing like saving a wing-man to earn you a couple of bro points, but don't give me all the credit." Loke responded as they were passing by booths towards Lucy's table.

"Oh, then who gets the credit?" Gray questioned as the flirty spirit gave him a sly grin.

"Why none other than my beautiful master of course, she saw the trouble you were in and decided that I should intervene." Gray's eyes widened for a split second before he took his regular cool demeanor, making sure Loke didn't notice his reaction.

"Alright then, I'll be sure to thank her." He responded, with his usual stiff tone when he's annoyed but brought a joyful smile to Loke.

Loke knew he had gotten to Gray and it amused him plenty whenever he teased him about her, although it did come as a surprise the first time around when Gray confided in him that he liked Lucy. Of course it resulted in a brawl between the two over it, but Gray came out on top and Loke knew deep down, even before their fight, that Gray was a trustworthy person to leave his master's safety under. The end result was Loke giving his blessing to Gray, though the ice mage didn't understand why he needed it, and continuous teasing when the chance would arise.

"Great because were right near her table!" Loke exclaimed as he sat right next to Lucy, leaving Gray to sit next to Levy who was right across from her.

"Hey Gray, joining us I see." Levy said as she began to clean up her half of the table that was cluttered with a few open books.

"Hey Levy and I sure am. By the way Lucy, thanks for getting me out of their with Loke." He said, causing her to look at Loke with a questioning gaze. He simply replied with a wink, full knowing that he wanted her to play along.

 _ **"Damn that lion"**_ Lucy thought exasperated, but decided to go along. "No problem Gray, you looked like you really needed it back there." She replied smiling to him.

"I did and I appreciate it. Again Thanks." Gray had then turned into his beautified self and Lucy began to slightly panic. _"I know I can always depend on you Lucy and if you let me, you can depend on me too in more ways than one."_ Lucy was growing frantic as her heart beat kept increasing as he looked at her. It was already bad enough that she was crushing on him, but with this unbelievable version of him that made Gray look even better was pushing her to the limit.

"S-Sure thing Gray." Lucy cursed to herself for stuttering and wanted nothing more than not embarrass herself in front of him. All she could think about was how fast he could make her feel this way and how she would deal with the lion spirit later.

"I know I asked you this before, but are you alright Lucy? You're looking a bit red again." Gay asked looking right at her, although she wanted her to be by his side or at least have his hand on her forehead again. Levy had also looked up from her finished book to see and there was the proof.

On Lucy's behalf of the people who actually knew that she was crushing on Gray were her spirits and Levy. Lucy could rely on Levy to keep her secret about it, but Loke had nonstop teased her about him when he got the chance. Levy was supportive about her crush, but always found it adorable about her best friend when she blushed at times, this time was no different.

"Maybe you should rest a bit Lu-chan, you do look a bit red." Lucy was grateful for Levy's input, gaining the chance to avoid possibly humiliating herself in front of Gray.

"You're right Levy-chan, I'm just going to put my head down a bit, but who'll help you take those books back to the library?" She had offered to help her take those back before Gray arrived and now she didn't want to move out fear of stumbling as she walked.

"If that's the case then I'll do it. Gives me a chance to get out for a bit and let things cool down between the Knight and the Demon." Gray offered, although Loke would've objected to it if not for Lucy smashing his foot in with her boot. The spirit yelped a bit, but regained his composure when Gray looked at him.

 _"I hope you don't mind me going with you Levy, I'll understand if you don't wish for me to be with you."_ The beautified Gray had returned with Levy now experiencing the potion first hand, however a certain water mage and dragon slayer looked on at that table with hidden emotions from their table.

Levy stared at him, confused on how he had changed his appearance in such a way, but when she looked into his eyes time came to a stand still and it didn't matter. This in itself had reminded her of one of her favorite scenes in a romance novel she read a few days ago. The main heroine had just met the man that would lift her spirits again and show her the beauties of life versus her lifestyle of combat, she looked into his eyes and knew that there was hope for her. Levy's own fantasies usually had Gajeel in mind, but this time he had been replaced with Gray.

The others looked at Levy who had a dazed appearance on her face, until Gray shook her shoulder a bit to bring her around. She immediately blushed in embarrassment from being too deep in thought and let out a small cough to settle herself.

"What happened to you Levy?" Loke asked as he looked around for having the strangest feeling that the table was being glared at.

"N-Nothing happened, I-I was just...um...thinking. Yeah that's right. I was just thinking how um, people would react to Gray." She responded although Loke had a slight suspicion for her stuttering, as did Lucy.

"Oh and how would they react, hmm?" Loke continued trying to see if anything would surface with his questioning.

"I think they would react better than having a tall, long-haired man glare at them the whole time if people got close or looked at me." The last bits of her sentence had her voice lowering and eased Lucy's suspicions, but Loke still felt that there was something amiss.

"That settles it then, when do you want to leave Levy?" Gray asked as he picked up his shirt that was laying on the floor next to him, followed by his coat.

"Well we could leave right now since I've just finished my last book." She replied placing the book in her hand above a stack of six others each looking equally as thick as the last. Gray was both impressed and amazed at how such a petite girl like Levy could carry all those books herself.

"Okay then lets head out." Gray said, walking over the entire stack and carrying it off with Levy waving good-bye to Lucy as she tried to catch up to Gray.

Lucy looked on as the two made their way out of the guild and let out a small sigh as she turned back to look at the table. Loke on the other hand was tapping his fingers in a waiting manner as he looked at his master, yet he didn't seem bothered more like he was wanting an explanation from her.

"Now tell me what was that all about Lucy?" He asked as she finally looked his way, but she wasn't so amused either.

"Why should I answer you when I'm the one who should be telling you that." She crossed her arms in an annoyed fashion and Loke knew that she was just a bit upset, but she'd get over it in time.

"We have a lot to talk about between you two." He commented off-handily and Lucy understood how he was just trying to help, but this sort of thing is much more complicated for her. Especially when she could feel the jealousy prone water mage making her way towards them.

* * *

"Come on Gray, let me help you with those books!" Levy had kept pestering him when they left the guild to help. She didn't want to feel like making him carry all those books for her.

"Now what kind of man would I be if I let little you carry so many of these heavy books?" He teased as they continued to walk down the streets of Magnolia like he kept doing ever since she started with her wanting to help.

The town was as lively as it was when Juiva had walked by earlier and a few people would wave hello towards the two mages as they went by. Oddly enough Levy had begun to notice the amount of girls that kept ogling at Gray as they walked and wanted nothing more than solid script the word "wall" to prevent them from looking at him. Levy shook her head from those thoughts, wondering why she felt so territorial around Gray. She kept trying to think of multiple reasons as to why, but they always came back to the same conclusion she didn't want to believe. With a final tired sigh, she decided to leave it alone for now.

Gray had caught her sigh thinking that she was tired of his teasing and decided to let her carry at least a book. She was just trying to be helpful, but then again Gray hardly was around Levy to know when she had enough. Feeling as if he was being a bit of an ass, he stopped and bent his knees a bit for her to grab a book. Levy was wondering what Gray was doing when he stopped and waited for him to say something since he just remained there.

"Well?" He asked as she kept looking at him from behind the pile of books.

"Well what?" Levy had no clue what he meant by that and Gray didn't think he needed to spell it out for her. She's like one of the smartest people he knows, well anyone above others since he uses Natsu as a basis for intelligence levels. Him being at the bottom of course.

"You said you wanted to help so here, just take one from the top." Levy immediately flushed from not seeing the obvious and quickly took a book from the top of the pile. Gray chuckled at how fast she responded, making Levy pout at how he laughed at her embarrassment.

"Geez Gray, I didn't know you were such a bully." Levy said as she turned her head with her arms crossed, the book hugged to her body.

"It's not that I'm being a bully, all I'm doing is having a little fun. I hardly spend time with you outside of the guild, so I thought it would be better to make these times fun." He said as they continued to walk down the streets, but unbeknownst to them there was another figure following behind them in the shadows.

"Didn't think you, Mister cold, cool and serious, would have some sort of fun side to yourself. Well besides what you consider fun that is." Levy responded yet she was actually flattered to know that Gray was being considerate of how he treats his guild mates, which made her heart skip a beat since he was being this way for her.

"Hey I'm still that guy no matter where I go, but changing up my attitude keeps the mystery aspect of myself going. Which you missed by the way."

"Not to mention arrogant" Levy added laughing at how shocked Gray's face became when she said that.

"Hey!" He was baffled at how quick witted she was with minor insults, but laughed alongside her.

"There's hope for you yet Levy. In time you can throw insults like any other Fairy Tail mage, maybe as good as the Edolas version of yourself even." Gray commented as they neared the library and Levy felt a surge of pride that Gray believed in her ability to be more like those in the guild instead of just being the guild's bookworm.

Levy opened the door for the both of them when they made it and the inside was a quaint place, although the amount of books inside can barely rival that of the guild's library. There was a front desk where a young librarian around his mid to early twenties was looking over the newly returned books with the help of an archive lacrima. Near the center were multiple mahogany tables lined up in four rows with two placed together per space. Surrounding them were dozens of shelves lined with books, from free standing book cases to ones that were lined up against the walls. This was one of Levy's favorite places to come ever since she was a little girl.

"Hey Levy, come to return your books?" The librarian asked as she made her way from the front door where a small staircase lead her down to the ground floor.

"You bet Micheal, plus I was thinking of getting a few more to read." She replied placing down her book, while Gray had managed to finally get down the staircase which surprised Micheal when he saw him.

"Well would you look at that, didn't expect to see you here Gray." Micheal said as Gray set the rest of Levy's books onto the front desk.

"Back at ya Micheal, so this is where you work now?" Gray asked, although Levy was wondering where these two met.

"Wait a minute, Gray how do you know Micheal?" Levy didn't think he came to the library often, let alone getting to know the person who worked there.

"I got to know him when he worked at his father's bookstore that's about another block or so from here. Speaking of which, how's your old man doing Micheal?" Levy had to admit that there is some mystery to Gray because she's sure no one else besides her knows that he went to a bookstore.

"That's one way of explaining it, but yeah he's doing alright. Oh, he's also been saving some books that'd you like including a good chunk about ice magic." Levy was completely amazed at how these two spoke to one another so casually, though Levy saw Gray as some what anti-social outside of the guild.

"I'll go pay him a visit then. Levy if you don't mind, I'm gonna go see Micheal's old man for a bit and don't worry I'll come around again to help carry whatever books you're getting this time." Levy was about to reply when Gray changed into the Gray she saw earlier. _"I wouldn't want to leave another avid reader such as yourself to carry all that weight on your own."_ She merely nodded her okay and with that the ice mage left and made his way down the street again.

* * *

It had been years since he's been there thanks to the time lapse, but he wondered what sort of books had Micheal's father received that were stashed away for him. He was in thought when he felt like he was being watched, someone was following him but he couldn't tell where they were. Gray was ready to create an ice clone to lure them away when an arm shot out of an alley and dragged him in, covering his mouth with its hand so he couldn't yell out. He was ready to fight back when he was pinned by the shoulders against the side of the building and faced with his attacker.

To his shock, Gajeel was pinning him against the wall with a hardened glare directed at him that gave Gray no clue as to what he would want. He was completely caught off guard when Gajeel released him and turned to look away, letting Gray get his bearings again.

"What the hell was that for Gajeel!" Gray knew he was ready for a fight, but to be followed like that by a guild mate confused him more so than angered him.

"Where is Shrimp, Stripper?" He asked in his usual gruff tone and Gray knew that he must have been looking for Levy back at the guild.

"She's fine, Levy's at the library right now and I was just going down the street for a bit." Gray would rather keep his little journey to himself and Levy for the meantime rather than get harassed by the metal face about it later.

"Fine, then answer me this. Did you actually mean what you told Salamander?" Again with this question, it was just getting on Gray's nerves if he had to repeat himself for everyone there.

"You were there! You heard me tell the idiot that I beat him and I meant it!" Gray exclaimed having been through this already. "Are all you dragon slayers losing your super hearing or something?" Gray off-handily said as he looked back to the main street, ready to get moving again.

"I knew that ice boxers, I meant when you said that you...uh..." Gajeel was not one to say anything about emotions, let alone ones that he didn't want the flaming idiot to get when it concerned him.

"When I said what metal face? I don't have all day." Gray was a person with patience, save for Natsu since he couldn't stand him, but he just wanted to get this over with.

"When you said you were falling in love with him." Gajeel mumbled it out, just enough for Gray to hear and he didn't understand why it felt very embarrassing to talk to him about it.

"The FUCK!" Gray exclaimed causing any passerby to look in the direction of the alley who heard his yell. "Why would I ever say something like that!"

"I've been wondering that too." Gajeel felt a breath of relief escape his mouth when he discovered that he denied saying it, but didn't understand why Salamander said it.

"I don't swing that way, to let you know plus Mira would have a field day if she heard something like that." Gray was beyond confused to put everything together to make sense although one question just popped up into his mind. "Why did you come to ask me that anyways Gajeel?"

"I...I assumed you used it as a way to get the upper hand." Gajeel had to think on his feet, but he was questioning why Gray began to look completely transformed into a picture of perfection with iron flowers surrounding him when he looked back towards the street again.

"That could work, but I rather avoid Mira in match-maker mode with all her plans and have my sexuality questioned." Gray responded, but he turned to look at him in such a way that amplified his appearance and the beautified Gray had surfaced in the eyes of Gajeel; _" And besides, did you think I'd say something to him when we both know you deserve it?"_

"W-Whatever...I'm heading back to the guild." Gajeel had managed to say it and shoved his way past Gray, leaving him too confused to care for the subject any longer and get back on his way towards the bookstore.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Micheal's an OC I brought in to the story to give Gray more depth, since we hardly know what he does in his spare time apart from being at the guild. This way, we see what he's been up to over the years._


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** _I'm very sorry that I didn't update anything, I've been having computer trouble and will most likely upgrade to a newer laptop pretty soon. Until then I have to make due, so hopefully that gets settled soon (heh, that rhymed). Anyways, leave a review if you like to and here's the next chapter! Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 6

Back with Levy in the library, she was busy looking at a few more books she had in mind, but she really wanted to ask Micheal more about Gray. She wondered what books he was into, how often he went to the library or if he recently became an avid reader. There was a side of Gray that Levy didn't know she could connect to and wondered if they could bond more with the subject of books, but the thought of bonding had her stop mid step towards the next isle. She had over looked her best friend's crush on Gray and didn't want to get in the way of them, though this might be a great opportunity to get together with another reader besides Lucy.

Levy could argue that she had Gajeel, but the iron slayer paid little mind to reading and remained as intimidating in any situation whether at the guild or not. Then when it came to Gray he could be just like Gajeel, but he acts in such a care free way she hasn't seen before that it pleases her to be around him. Not to mention that they could get along pretty well given how their interactions are outside of the guild and she knows how Gray is when it comes to his guild mates.

The petite bluenette was a decisive person, but this time she has met her match when it came to the matter of the heart. She could pass up the chance to be in a relationship with someone that had somewhat similar interests more so than she has seen in other men or try and win Gray's heart and hurt her best friend in the process. Levy was stumped when it came to this matter, but a brilliant idea came to mind when she thought through it more. This idea was ingenious and everyone wins in the end, well mostly everyone.

 _ **"I know what I have to do, but first..."**_ Levy made her way towards the front desk as Micheal had completed checking in the last book. "Micheal could you tell me how Gray was when he went into your father's store for the first time. Also how you two got along." She was readily interested in Gray's past when he came into Magnolia all those years ago.

"Looking for a bit of a childhood history lesson huh Levy?" He joked as he brought up a chair to tell his story. "About seventeen years ago I barely started working with my dad in his shop, cleaning up the shelves putting books back and the such when a boy about my age came in dropping his clothes around as he came up to my dad's cash register."

"Typical Gray, stripping without noticing." Levy giggled at remembering a younger Gray stripping his shirt in public.

"Yup, so he rings the bell a few times and my dad looks at him as if he were crazy with no clothes on. He tells him, "Son what happened to all your clothes?" in that instant Gray jumps back in panic and ran back to get his clothes." Micheal gave a short laugh when he remembered the sight of Gray's face full of panic. "After he got his clothes on, he asked if my dad had any books on ice magic, from regular to maker magic. He explained that he needed to find something, although never said what it was, but my father helped Gray out with what he needed nonetheless."

"Your father must have seen something in Gray at the time huh?" Levy asked as she continued to be enthralled with the story.

"He sure did, "like a man on a mission," he said to me once before with the case being the man was a little boy. Gray soon became a regular at our store, buying the latest copies on ice magic and a random book to read in his spare time. We began to hang out with one another when I was on break and he wasn't on a mission. We would talk about everyday things in Magnolia or his past missions, judging if it were cool or just boring." Micheal had a fond smile on his face when he looked back to those memories.

"Sounds like you guys became pretty good friends." Levy said, her own perception allowing her to see how well those two got along when they were younger.

"We sure did and as time went on he bought less amounts on ice magic books and started expanding his reading field. There wasn't a genre my dad had that he wouldn't read, I was amazed at how much he read, but I noticed that he kept away from a few horror novels containing demons for some reason. I wanted to ask him about that, but I decided not to so I didn't bother with it again."

"So he reads any type of genre except those horror ones then?" Levy had discovered his perffered tastes and was happy to know he read any type like she did.

"From adventure to romance, he's read plenty of them, but one book actually got him good and it was hilarious from the end result. On his fourteenth birthday my dad gave him a book to read when he was at home, well the following day he came to the store completely blushing from ear to ear. He asked me what genre was one that he was given and when I looked at it, I was crying tears from laughing way too hard." Micheal began to chuckle to himself as he wondered what ever happened to that book.

"What book was it? It's rare to see Gray blushing from almost anything." Levy wanted to know what can break Gray of his cool persona into a blushing mess.

"The title if I remember correctly was Passion beneath the Moonlight, it was an R rated book and my dad thought it was something Gray might find interesting. I knew that Gray read light to moderate romance novels before, but something that hardcore was a little too much for him and I couldn't get over it for nearly a week. Gray was pretty upset about it, but he let it go after a while and everything went back to normal for the next four years until you guys disappeared."

"So, what happened when we disappeared?"

"Everyone was frantic to find you guys for the first year and a half, but with the search teams finding nothing out there people started to lose hope. My dad and I weren't one of them though, we believed you guys were out there and so was Gray. He had a feeling he'd be back so he made sure to save up the books that would interest him, he felt it right to do it for him. I helped out too, being the one Gray usually hung out with when he wasn't at the Fairy Tail guild hall. In a way we bonded like brothers, but I'm sure Gray would deny it a bit since he's not one for sentimental things. Although he knows it to be like the truth."

"So you guys were that close, huh? Was it the same with your father?" Levy was so captivated with the story, as if she were reading a good book rather than listening to a repeat of memories.

"Yeah, my dad thought of Gray like a second son. He's seen him grow up ever since he came to Magnolia, it's still a wonder to either of us how connected we are to him when he was nothing but a strange boy with a stripping habit when we first met him."

"Wow that's a great story of your memories with Gray thank you for sharing them with me, but I have to ask when did you two meet up again?" One thing that Levy knows about herself is that she wants to know the answer to the questions she's got.

"You're welcome and that happened when I was out taking care of a few errands when I saw him sitting by the water's edge. I was pretty happy to see him again, although I was shocked that he still looked the same when I last saw him. Either way, we started talking again and catching up with our lives. I recently was reminded of what my father was doing when you asked how we know each other. Guess it must have slipped my mind when I talked with Gray." Micheal was truly happy to know that someone he can consider a brother is back and he wondered how his father was going to react.

"True to his word." Came Gray's voice as he walked down the steps, his coat laying on the floor already .

"Gray your coat." Micheal said his smiling face showing his true emotion of how the ice mage hadn't changed at all since then.

"Thanks Micheal, hey Levy ready to go?" He said putting his coat back on and she had completely forgot about the rest of the books but decided to make due with the books she has now.

"Just a minute Gray, I just need Micheal to check them out for me." Levy quickly placed the three books she managed to grab before she decided to hear Gray's story. It didn't take long to have them scanned by the lacrima and with that she was set to leave.

"Alright Levy you're good to go, come back if you want any more info of the past." Micheal said as she waved good bye to him, he still wore his smile after she left as he felt happy reminiscing on the past.

* * *

"I thought you were gonna get more than three books." Gray said as they walked back towards the guild, him carrying two of the three books.

"Well this is fine for right now and besides I've gotten to learn a bit of your past Gray." Levy replied with a smile on her face as she had a bit of a hop to her step walking alongside him. "By the way, how did it go seeing Micheal's father again?" She was curious to find out what happened since she's learned that Micheal's father cared for Gray like a son.

"It was a reunion the old man waited for, I'm surprised he didn't yell at me for not seeing him sooner." Gray joked as the two mages continued to have small talk on their walk back, but Levy was somewhat in her own state of mind, trying to get her little plan to work without things falling apart.

"Thanks for helping me out Gray, I'm sure things have settled down now so there's nothing for you to worry about." Levy said as they stood in front of the guild doors, already hearing some sort of argument happening.

"No problem Levy, glad to help." Gray was about to reach fo the handle to open the doors when Levy's hand shot out to grab him by the coat sleeve. He looked over at Levy to see what was wrong, but she didn't dare look up at him as the beating of her heart grew louder in her ears.

"If...If you w-wouldn't mind G-Gray, maybe you could...accompany me again some other time." Levy was beyond nervous and it took all of her strength and will power to keep her legs from shaking. Talking to him was one thing, but a Gray that looked ridiculously handsome and gave you compliments from time to time was a different story.

She had walked with her mind set on talking to Lucy and how their personal "conversation" would go, but she would also listen to Gray and that's where her mind had trouble. He would be talking about the subject for a while, but his image would change and all the compliments were hard for her to take since she rarely gotten such things other than being cute.

Asking this of Gray was the opening she needed. If she was taking a step to spend more time with him then this would be it before things were really put to the test when she told Lucy about it.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind going again." Gray replied and Levy let out a breath of relief when Gray had agreed and a bright smile formed on her face, one that Gray found contagious and smiled a bit himself.

Levy had noticed that he had stripped his coat and shirt again, but decided to enjoy the view a bit and with that Gray opened the door to guild, but the sweet little moment had passed as Gray immediately reacted and hugged Levy close to his body. The books they held fell to the floor, Levy was blushing like mad while Gray had a harsh glare towards his pink haired rival. The reason why was for the fact that Natsu had thrown a chair directed right towards Levy when Gray had opened the door.

"You flaming pyro, look at where you're throwing things! You almost hit Levy!" Gray shouted to him as Natsu's eye's widened when he looked on at Gray holding Levy.

To Natsu's eyes it appeared as if Gray held Levy with such care and love that he couldn't believe Gray was capable of handling someone like that. When he looked at Levy however, he saw her with a devious smile on her face snuggling closer to Gray when the real image was Levy blushing like never before with Gray holding her in a protective manner.

 _"I'm sorry Natsu, but Levy has managed to steal my heart. I hope you could understand that, but I know how you are...maybe you'll be able to find a way..."_ The beautified Gray spoke to Natsu in an apologetic way that left him standing with no words. He then let go of Levy and helped with her books, soon leading them towards the booth that had an angered Lucy with Loke trying to calm her down.

Natsu felt hurt, but not physically, it was more like someone had punched him right in the heart, which felt even harder especially after what Gajeel had told him.

 _FLASHBACK_

 _Natsu was coming to terms that if Gray was truly falling in love with him, then he shoud at least try to get along with him and make it work. It took him the larger potion of an hour to come to this conclusion since he's really never been attracted to anyone before, so this was his first time liking someone back. If Gray was willing to like him the way Bisca does to Alzak than he would try his best as well._

 _With that in mind, he was ready for Gray to come back and tell him that he was willing to form a relationship, although he wasn't sure how it would work between two guys. Either way, they would just figure it out as the went along, but he didn't know at the time that someone else had plans of their own. That plan being to have Natsu understand that Gray never admitted to falling in love with him._

 _Gajeel came through the guild doors sometime after Natsu had came to his conclusion and approached him with a smirk that told him something was coming. He sat next him near the bar counter, not saying much of anything until he looked up right at Natsu._

 _"You know the Stripper never really meant what he said." Was the only thing he said and Natsu's world came to a stand still wondering if he heard him right._

 _"What did you say?" Natsu said in a low tone, hoping this was just a lame prank he was pulling on him just to get angry._

 _"You heard me Salamander, the Stripper never really said that he was falling in love with you." Gajeel's smirk grew much to the dismay of Natsu who didn't want to believe what the raven head was saying._

 _"You're lying" was the reply he gave him, but for some reason he could feel something rise within him as if a part of him was believing him._

 _"I'm not, I'm a bit of an informant and I get my answers. Meaning that the Stripper never said he was falling for you nor did he mean it." Natsu's anger was boiling over from hearing this. he wouldn't stand for a lie against his knew love-like interest. He wasn't very sure where he stood with this, but he wouldn't allow Gajeel to ruin it for him._

 _"Stop lying to me metal face!" Natsu said in his low tone, "You're just trying to get under my skin." This was all some way to rile him up, but he's not going to fall for it that easily._

 _"Don't believe me if you want Salamander, but if I were you then I'd keep a close eye on the Stripper." Gajeel got up from his stool satisfied with his work, but decided to taunt him a little more for the fun of it. "You never know when I'll take him for myself, gihi."_

 _Natsu boiled over from hearing his last statement and his signature chuckle, he finally decided what he was going to do and the iron eater comes to ruin it for him. Letting his actions take over he grabbed the closest thing to him, being Gajeel's former stool, and through it right at him. Though he had the worst timing since right at that moment when Gajeel dodged the flying furniture, Gray and Levy had come through the guild doors. The rest had went down as before..._

 _END FLASHBACK_

Even after they made their way, Natsu knew there was some shred of hope for him, mostly from what the last bit Gray had said to him. Gray knew that Natsu could find a way, this meant that there was still a chance to get him back. Levy is just another obstacle he had to get over and if Gajeel's willing to steal Gray from him then it's a full out war between the two. With that in mind, the pink haired teen set out in search of his furry blue friend to devise a plan that will surely get him Gray.

Not far from where Natsu once stood Cana had looked on at the interaction between the two slayers. Though she was slowly recovering form her drunken stupor, she had more sense to know that something was brewing between the two and it wasn't going to be pretty. All in all, she felt it within her that it had something to do with Gray and she wouldn't allow those morons to interfere with her chances. She still had her trump card if she needed something to help boost her chances, though it will be saved just in case things get a little too complicated.

* * *

Over at the booth Gray and Levy had moved to that had Loke calming down Lucy, Gray wasn't close to sitting when Loke pulled him away. That left Levy with Lucy and it was the best thing to happen at the moment for her. This was her chance to come clean about her sudden interest in Gray and talk to Lucy about a proposition she had in mind.

"You okay Lu-chan, you seemed pretty angry when we were making our way here?" Levy had start out slow before she could push further with her question.

"To be honest Levy-chan, I...I snapped." Lucy replied with a defeated look on her face as she propped her elbow up onto the table, leaning her head on her opened palm.

"What do you mean by snapped?" She was worried that Lucy may have done something she would come to regret.

"I mean that I umm...sort of...told Juvia off..." Lucy was a kind person to many, that Levy knows, but for her to lose her cool to Juvia must have been major.

"Alright spill it, how did it happen" Levy was interested how Lucy would handle Juvia when she was angered.

"Well it went like this, Loke was going to question me on how I acted with Gray before you two left. I came back with my reply, but I noticed Juvia marching her way to our table."

"She must have been cautious of you, even with me and Loke there huh?" Levy inquired and Lucy nodded her head in response.

"Yup, she kept yammering on about how she didn't want me to be near her very precious "Gray-sama" and how I was her ultimate Love Rival." She let out a sigh when she said those final words, making them the bane of her situation.

"And you normally denied it, hurting how you truly feel for him and crushing your chances even more when he hears it, right?" Levy's heard her problem more so than not and understands how Lucy handles the situation and the problems it causes for her.

"Not exactly..." Lucy moved her gaze from her best friend to the table.

"What did you do Lu-chan?" Levy would be in a scolding fashion if she weren't so interested what Lucy had done instead of her normal routine.

"She kept talking and I don't know what happened to me, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I just started talking back and one thing led to another and now I'm officially Juvia's Love Rival."

"No way, you actually stood your ground!?" Levy was excited that her best friend had finally shown she was capable of defending herself for the sake of a love interest, but the matter still remained on what she had to talk about with her.

"I did and I don't know what to do. Help me out Levy-chan." Lucy pleaded, but Levy began to twiddle with her fingers, since she too was something to say.

"Now Lu-chan I don't want to upset you, but I have to tell you something..." Levy was very nervous of how she was going to approach this.

"Go on, I won't get mad I've already done so enough today."

"The thing is...I've sort of...taken an interest in Gray." Lucy sat there stunned at what her best friend told her, was she mistaken or did she understand her correctly.

"H-how did you...w-when did this...I don't have words to explain how I'm feeling right now Levy-chan." Lucy was growing ever so confused, she finally took her stand on how she felt about Gray and now her own close friend says she likes him too.

"I'm so sorry Lu-chan, but I learned some things about Gray that I can maybe relate to. He's a mystery to everyone and I'm sure I've only scratched the tip of the ice-berg. No pun intended." Levy really didn't want to ruin her friendship over a guy, so she had to try her hardest to have Lucy go further in this conversation.

"I don't want to go against you and Juvia over Gray Levy-chan, but I don't want to do this alone either. Even with my spirits by my side it still a bit of an issue to me." Lucy plopped her head onto the table unable to believe that not only does she have to compete with a former S-class mage, but her best friend too.

"Well you don't have to do it alone." Levy had finally reached her opening and this was her chance to make this right.

"What do you mean by that?" Lucy brought her head back up to look at Levy, wondering where she was going with this.

"Well as the saying goes "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"."

"So?

"So it means that you and I should team up Lu-chan!" This was the decision Levy had made in the library when she thought of Juvia being an obstacle while she was in thought. "Of course you're still my friend though when it comes to Gray, you're like my enemy."

"Are you sure? How will that work?" Lucy was skeptical about the idea, even if Levy's ideas were pretty good in the long run.

"I'm positive! We work together to win over Gray and if you're willing to, then we share him. It's a win-win for everyone." Levy was beaming with both pride in her idea and hope that Lucy would agree to it.

Lucy would be lying is she said it wasn't a sound idea, but a part of her wanted to have Gray to herself. Alas, looking at the situation as it is, Lucy had a handful of people she would be willing to share Gray with if ever and one of them was now Levy. She gave it a bit more thought and knew that it was the best course of action to have more allies on her side than rivals.

"Alright Levy-chan you got yourself a partner!" Lucy extended her hand with a bright smile to confirm their partnership. _**"Maybe sharing won't be so bad"**_

"Great! Let's win Gray's heart together!" Levy took her hand and shook it, making their partnership official.

Now, without the ice mage knowing what's happening, two dragon slayers are on the verge of war, Cana's got a mysterious trump card up her sleeve(or in her pouch), Lucy's made her stand and a partnership has been formed between the celestial spirit mage and the solid script mage. Rivals are becoming abundant and allies are being made, who's next to undergo their trial of the heart for Gray?


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note:**_ _Here's the next chapter for you guys and gals! As always looking forward to any reviews you may have. Enjoy Chapter 7!_

* * *

Chapter 7

Gray was wondering what Loke had on his mind, ever since they saw each other when he came back there was this look of glee on his face. It sort of creeped him out a bit since he didn't change that look even after he took him away from the booth. Which also reminded him of what happened to Lucy, she seemed so frustrated when he looked at her. If there was someone he could ask then Loke was the man, only if he could lose the look then Gray could be comfortable.

"Alright man, you dragged me away from the girls now tell me what's going on. Plus get rid of that weird face, it's bugging me." Gray said when the two former partners made it to their own private table.

"I can't get rid of sexy Gray. It's both a gift and a curse." Loke said in his own dramatic way and Gray smirked at him.

"Whatever, I'm sure I could rival you any day. Besides I want to know what's going on and what's up with Luce. She looked pretty pissed and not the usual "flame breath ate all her food" pissed either." At this point, Loke took on a Cheshire grin as he looked at his wing-man.

"That's the thing I wanted to tell you. She's pissed because of Juvia!" The spirit had such a proud smile on his face, although Gray was still lost in how that had to do with anything.

"So? I assume she denied being her rival and was just aggravated when Juvia finally left, right?" Gray knew this song and dance; he'd be lying if it didn't hurt him a little every time Lucy said she didn't like him in that way.

"You'd think that wouldn't you, but she did the complete opposite!" The joy he was giving off was immense. Sure he didn't have anything against Juvia at all, but he didn't enjoy watching his master put herself down ever time she was confronted by the water mage.

"What do you mean?" Gray was his regular self on the outside, but on the inside he was genuinely shocked. What could have Lucy done that was greatly different.

"This may actually brighten your day" Loke said looking right at Gray, prepared to spot any difference.

 _FLASHBACK_

 _Barely a couple of minutes had passed since Gray left with Levy to the library, when the water mage had marched her way towards Lucy. Loke became aware of how her attention had gone from him to her as soon as Lucy replied to him. Knowing what Juvia would say, Loke kept silent waiting for the same routine between her and his master to be over._

 _"Hey Juvia, what brings you over?" Lucy said to her, although Loke knew that they both know the answer to that._

 _"Juvia will not stand around and have Love Rival close to Juvia's Gray-sama." And there's the reason. Loke knew she was a nice person, but this obsession with Gray puts a damper on his opinion of her sometimes. This being one of those times._

 _"Why are you worried? Loke and Levy were here with us, so there's no reason to be on the look out." Lucy replied in her usual tone, but Loke started noticing how some of her features started to change._

 _Lucy had a light-hearted or nervous look to her when she talked about Gray with Juvia and all that Love Rival business, but now she looked different. Her eyes looked sharp as if she was glaring at the water mage, the smile she usually wore in this situation wasn't there and she began to tap her fingers in an impatient manner. Something was going on with her and Loke couldn't tell what it was._

 _"Juvia needs not worry about Levy-san, she sees her as no threat to Juvia. Love Rival is the only threat to Juvia's quest for Gray-sama's heart." There was a line to be drawn when it came to this matter and in Loke's opinion she was ready to cross it._

 _He was about to stand up and defend his master, but Lucy held his arm down and shook her head signaling to the spirit to not do anything. He didn't understand what she was doing, but agreed to sit there for now._

 _"How could I be the only threat to you, if I may ask? Gray just left with Levy not long ago and she's another pretty girl too." The lion spirit could tell that Lucy felt bad for bringing Levy up in the conversation, but he had a feeling that she was wanting to make a point._

 _"Juvia is not very worried about Levy-san since Juvia knows that you are her true rival." This brought a question to Loke's mind. She's protective of Gray, but why is Lucy her real rival versus the other girls here?_

 _"Oh? Then on what basis can you say that I'm your true rival Juvia? I can't recall what I actually did to have you think that way of me." Lucy was beginning to look even more impatient and was close to being actually angry with Juvia._

 _"Juvia has her own basis as to why and knows how Love Rival will deny her that she is interested in Gray-sama." Juvia crossed her arms, standing strong with her words and yet Loke had a strange assurance that things have just gone over the deep end._

 _"So you think that I'll deny liking Gray, like I always do and just have you come back to claim me as your number one rival?!" Lucy was truly angry, as in she was fuming with anger towards the water mage._

 _"Yes Juvia does think so. You may deny it, but Juvia knows that it is all a ruse to drop Juvia's guard so Love Rival could take Gray-sama for herself." Lucy stood up abruptly her hands on the table and a no nonsense look plastered on her face._

 _"Fine Juvia, I'm tired of denying something that isn't true anymore. I was trying to make peace with you, while I hurt myself and my chances with Gray for it. But if you think that I'll be your rival after denying it so many times then fine!" Loke was truly astounded at how Lucy was being, was she really going to do what he thought she was about to do?_

 _"So you were after Juvia's Gray-sama!" Juvia pointed an accusing finger at Lucy who still wasn't about to back down from this. The spirit knew that for Lucy it was all or nothing, hopefully she chooses all._

 _"I tried to make peace, but since you didn't want that then I'll come clean. I like Gray and I'm done claiming that I don't for you Juvia. I'm your Love Rival and I won't back down." A great sense of pride swelled in Loke and if he were to guess it, then it went for all of her spirits too. Especially to Aquarius out of all._

 _"Juvia knew it and now Juvia will do everything in her power to protect what is hers!" With that she huffed and stormed away, her jealous rage already steaming from her body as she went._

 _It was some time later that Lucy had calmed down enough to know what she had done and even more so when she would stop becoming angry when she thought of Juvia. This kept up until Loke spotted Gray and Levy making their way to them._

 _END FLASHBACK_

"So Lucy actually stood up to Juvia?" Gray was shocked to say the least of what he had heard and Loke smiled when he noticed the soft smile that formed on Gray's face.

"Can't you see, Lucy's into you too. Maybe you should go talk to her, you never know what might happen." Loke's smile was still present as the thought of his best friend since he was in the guild and his master finally coming together.

"That's a solid point Loke, but if I know how Lucy is then it'll be a bit more complicated than that." Gray said as he leaned back in his seat and Loke gave an exasperated sigh.

"Now what man? This is a golden opportunity for you and yet your hesitating."

"Lucy put herself up there, meaning she is willing to prove to Juvia that she's better. I even think that my opinion would hardly dis-sway her from proving herself." That opened Loke's eyes to see beyond the picture, so it seems that Gray really did know Lucy.

He knew his master was a strong young lady and being raised as an heiress has also left her with a sense of pride. Loke hadn't thought of that before, she would truly want to prove herself and that pride of hers wouldn't allow her to back down so easily. He had to hand it to Gray for figuring that one out.

"That's true, but hey it's just a part of Lucy that we all love right?" Loke said although he noticed how Gray slightly blushed when he said 'love'. His friend truly didn't know how to deal with sentimental stuff.

"Uh...yeah, yeah...besides it's best to see how this play's out, just in case things chan-" Gray couldn't finish his sentence as two arms wrapped themselves aorund his neck and in utter surprise, he jerked in his seat. He was prepared to get rid of them and fight back when he heard a cute giggle beside his head.

Right next to him was Cana, her head on his shoulder as she hugged him from behind all the while Loke stared at her confused. Something didn't seem right with her, given that he thinks that every time he catches her drink but this time it was different. He had this feeling about it, but nothing came to mind on what was wrong, other than her being super close to Gray.

"There you are Gray, I've been looking for you." Cana whispered into his hear with such a seductive way that sent a tingle go right through his spine. The ice mage, by way of being conditioned to Cana's behavior, knew she was drunk, but the smell of alcohol was minor.

That surprised Gray the most, she had the scent of it but it wasn't major as he would suspect. It was closely enough to where Elfman was long gone drunk, which wasn't a lot for such a big man. Meaning that Cana was in her right mind more or less, so she was in control of her actions.

"Hey Cana, so why were you looking for me?" He had to keep his cool, things could go south very fast with a slightly sober Cana if he didn't play his cards right.

"Thought we could hang out like we used to." She replied keeping her arms still around his neck.

"If you're looking for a drinking buddy, then count me out. Last time I was that, I found myself asleep on my roof with the rain waking me up." Gray hated that day, but could hardly remember what happened after his twenty-fourth mug the night before.

"Don't be such a grump about that, you helped me win a lot of Jewel that night so there's no harm done drinking with me plus I helped you get over the hang over." She then climbed over the seat and as she did earlier, latched herself to Gray's arm.

"uh... **"Well hi Loke how are you?"**...Oh I'm doing fine Cana thanks for asking, so how are you?... **"Oh you know just ignoring you and getting all up on the Gray train, destination Angry Loke Town"**." Gray sweat dropped at Loke's personal commentary, however Cana looked at him as another giggle escaped her lips.

"It's not that I'm ignoring you Loke, it's just that Gray has most of my attention right now." Cana replied making Loke cross his arms having a sharp glare directed towards Gray at the moment.

"Oh really, Gray care to explain this to me?" Loke knew Gray was a good guy, but this thing happening between them was setting off a few alarms in his head to be good.

"Well I...uh... the thing is...umm she's just..." Gray was struggling to come up with an answer and gave in letting out a defeated sigh, "To be honest, I have no way of putting this into words." Loke was still glaring at him, he believed him sure but that wasn't going to suffice as an answer for him.

"Don't worry about it Gray, I'll explain it to him." Cana spoke up, but before he could sigh in relief she quickly pecked him on the cheek, but slow enough for Loke to embed it into his mind.

"W-What was t-"

"Hey Gray can you come here please!" Mira's voice had been a god send for Gray at that moment, providing him a chance to escape.

"I-I'm gonna go and s-see what Mira needs," Gray replied confused and a bit in shock, _"Although I would've preferred to stay at your side Cana, but don't worry we be together soon."_ The return of the beautified Gray said as she began to blush, although to Loke's eyes she seemed to blush out of random looking at the retreating figure of Gray.

 _ **"Something's going on here..."**_ Loke thought as Cana turned around and looked at him with a serious expression.

"Now Loke you better listen carefully because I'm not repeating myself." Cana began as she had immediately peaked Loke's curiosity with such a commanding tone.

* * *

"Hey Mira, what do you need me for?" Gray said as he finally made his way past his fellow guild mates, who he's noticed kept looking at him as he walked past.

"Oh it's not just me who needs you, it's us." She said in her ever so sweet tone, but Gray was confused until he noticed the red head sitting down at the table Mira was serving a drink to.

Gray may had thought that Mira's calling was a god send, but he takes it all back now. It wasn't that anymore; she didn't save him from hell, she brought him there taking him away from a nightmare. He had just remembered that he had to give his thought on what Mira did for him earlier that day.

"So tell us Gray, what do you think of Mira's actions? I've been waiting to hear since Loke said he was "only borrowing you for a bit"." Erza said as she looked up at the ice mage who was secretly shaking on the inside.

 _ **"You can do this Gray, just relax a bit. It's not like you're going to get beaten to a pulp for picking one side or dealing with a crying demon if you pick the other, right?"**_ Even in Gray's thoughts there was little help to escape the least desirable outcomes.

"You know I don't really mind that Mira did that for me," A victorious smile formed on Mira's face as Erza gripped her gauntlet tightly, suppressing a growl that was about to escape her throat, "but you could have just told me too Mira, I don't like being treated like a baby." Erza's grip lessened and she calmed down a bit.

Gray knew he opted for the in between, but hey it was the safest route to take and he didn't need a beating on what he can consider to be a pretty good day. Besides the weird questions and Cana's sudden advances that is.

"That's quite alright with me, how about you Erza?" Mira was pushing Erza's buttons in the most discrete way possible and the red head was not enjoying it one bit. She's trying to force Erza's hand and if that's what she wants then it's what she'll get.

"Yes I'm fine with it. You should get going Mira, looks like you have a few tables that are calling on you" Erza said, a small smirk forming on her lips as Mira bid them good bye and that left Gray standing alone next to Erza's booth. "Sit down Gray"

He immediately complied, expecting so many things to come from Erza and yet he was calm for some unknown reason. Usually he was at the ready to tense up, but he felt quite relaxed given his position of being berated by Erza.

"Loke said for a bit, which to me was around the lines of a few minutes," She began and Gray was still as calm as ever which he found odd, "so do you care to tell me why you weren't back after a couple of hours." Explaining things was something he'd been doing all day, so he went on to tell Erza the things that mattered since Loke took him away.

"That's about it and I'm sure you saw me come through the door with Levy" Gray said and a small tick mark appeared on Erza's head remembering just how close the two were.

"Oh I remember," Gray was slightly cautious since Erza sounded to be restraining some anger, "but for the most part you owe me."

"Hold on, owe you? What could I possibly owe you?" Gray knew better than to question Erza, but sometimes he couldn't help to do so on certain occasions.

"For making me wait for such a long period of time, you are going to pay me back by spending some time with me understand?" Erza explained to him and to her this would be a good opportunity to take the lead in her personal war with Mira.

"Seriously, I just got back not an hour ago..." Gray would have continued his sentence if it weren't for the questioning glare he was getting from Erza that stopped him, "On second thought maybe getting a little more wouldn't be so bad."

"Great let's get going, the days almost done" She said as Gray got up and made his way towards the door, but she quickly grabbed a random guild mates untouched drink and chugged all of its contents down. _**"Nothing wrong with some liquid courage, right?"**_

* * *

At another part of the guild, two feminine figures we're speaking to each other in hushed tones making sure no one would hear them. Even in the rowdy guild, discrete was what they needed to be. It's not easy keeping things secret if one person over hears their plan.

"Looks like we've got a little competition" Said one who was sitting by herself at the furthest part of the guild.

"Oh and who could they be?" The other asked making sure to act as if she were just idly sitting down behind her companion's booth, her back to hers.

"It appears our own blonde beauty and little bookworm have teamed up." She replied casually spinning her finger around her mug's rim.

"Isn't that cute, it's too bad their only going to be met with disappointment. Looks like we're going to deal with six people in total now, but that's alright we can still win."

"Yup, you and me to the end."


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** I apologize for the late update, I was hoping to upload this chapter last week but I ran into trouble mid-way through. My fear was realized when my laptop crashed on me and I wasn't able to save the other half of the original chapter, so I hope this one can make it up although I'm still unsure of it. The good news is I got a new laptop so that gets rid of that problem. Personally, I think the original was better, but I'll let you decide for yourselves, anyway here's chapter 8! Review if you like to and enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 8

"So where do you want to go?" So far the two mages had been walking down the streets of Magnolia, the amount of people around had decreased since Gray was around with Levy and the cool breeze of the evening swept through them.

"I was thinking of going to this cake shop I frequently go to when I leave for a mission." Erza had been wanting her favorite strawberry cheesecake since Gray left their table in the early afternoon, but she wasn't going to risk getting more. She in her own way of knowing Mira came to the conclusion that she may put something in it to knock her out.

"If you wanted cheesecake, I know of a place you'll probably like." Gray said as he led her down a few more blocks, the shops becoming slightly far in between until he stopped in front of a cafe.

It was a small cafe located in a area mostly surrounded by homes and apartments, nothing like the busy commercial area heading towards the guild. It had beautifully crafted out door tables and chairs, surrounded by a small metal fence lined with bushes of various flowers and a few families were enjoying there meal there.

As the two made their way inside, Erza looked at how it was decorated and could only describe it as "homey". It had such a warm feeling to it that she found it a little out of character for Gray to be in such a place, nonetheless it brought such a comfortable feeling to her. Although she could be better if she didn't catch a group or two of girl friends eyeing Gray as they made there way towards the register, of course it's nothing she couldn't handle with a glare.

"Hello Gray, a little early in the week to be coming in don't you think?" A nice woman said as she looked up at the ice mage who gave a small smile to her in return.

"It kind of is, but today's an exception because I brought someone along with me ." Gray said in reply shifting his shoulder slightly for her to see the red head standing behind him.

Erza looked up to a woman who seemed to be in her early thirties, brown hair draped down her youthful looking face. Her bright green eyes held a welcoming appeal and the smile she wore brought a similar feeling as well. All in all she was a beautiful woman, however Erza had the sudden urge to stick by Gray's side.

"My, my has Gray finally landed himself a girlfriend. She's such a pretty young woman." Mrs. Cromwell said causing Gray to reel back in shock waiting on Erza's reaction, but when he turned to look at her it was a different sight to see.

He turned to see her cheeks dusted pink as she coughed to alleviate the slight awkward tension, although it did remind Gray that under all that hard exterior and armor Erza is still a young woman. Gray felt like saying that she had it all wrong, but for some reason he was just plain in wonderment on how cute Erza was being when she was embarrassed.

"I-It's nothing l-like that ma'am, I'm just a good friend of Gray's is all." It was not what Erza wanted to say in the slightest, but she wasn't his yet.

"Oh is that so and here I thought Gray had gotten a girlfriend, not just any girl but the Titania of Fairy Tail." Mrs. Cromwell was gushing at the thought of the two together, to which both Fairy Tailers were reminded of a certain take over mage thinking about potential couples.

"Yeah it is, we're here because this place came to mind when she wanted to get some cheesecake." Gray spoke up facing Mrs. Cromwell again, in the meantime Erza regained her composure although on the inside she felt like huddling into a fetal position from placing herself in the friendzone.

"Well, go have a seat and I'll serve you two in no time plus I'll have Terrance make that special cheesecake for you." She said directing the two to a free table, one next to a large window plane allowing them to see the sun slowly inch its way away for the night to come.

"So you're a regular here Gray? To be honest, this place isn't one I'd expect you to go to." Erza said as she took a sip of her tea that Mrs. Cromwell had served for them before she went to attend to her other patrons.

"I come by here every Sunday to have a coffee or some breakfast, nothing too special." He said looking out at the neighborhood, seeing the few people around go by.

"I assume so, however I'm curious as to why they allowed you to come back with that stripping habit of yours. I would've guessed that they found it a little unsettling to have someone strip in their cafe." She was actually curious since Gray's always managed to get himself kicked out of some places because of his habit.

"To be clear I did that twice here before. I got off with a warning those times, but a little down the road I stopped stripping altogether in the cafe. It's probably just my nerves that make me do it." Gray said the sun striking his features perfectly as he looked back at Erza and for her it was greatest scene she had ever witnessed. But alas the moment passed and she made sure to stay focused, who knows when she'll be caught day dreaming.

"Is that so?" She said thinking back to the times he would strip, but she noticed an interesting detail. He always stripped around her when they were kids, but he hardly does now at their current age. _**"Why is that?"**_

"Yeah I think it's just that this place gives off a relaxing feeling to me that I'm just calm" He said, leaning back into his seat and Erza mustered her courage for her next question.

"If that's the case then why don't you strip around me? I would have believed that I make you nervous, always thinking that I'm going to punish you." Erza made sure she kept up her character, avoiding the suspicion of acting weird.

"Well sure I used to do that when we were younger, but over the years I got used to you and who you are that I felt at ease around you." Gray replied normally, but unknown to him Erza's heart skipped a beat. _"I'm honest when I say that I feel at ease around you Erza."_

"Then thank you for getting accustomed to me Gray." She said smiling kindly to him even though her heart beat increased significantly and Gray felt something inside of him tighten up.

"You're welcome, besides life at the guild would be different without you there." Gray whole heartily meant what he said because Erza has done so much for the guild and the guild has done so much for her.

Erza's heart fluttered within her as Gray said that, she knew the ice mage was not that great with words and emotions but he knows how to say the right things without knowing it. Her smiled never wavered as they talked more, but Erza could feel something was off within her as if her mind and body were trying to be with Gray now more than ever instead of being separated by a table.

"You know Gray, Cana was right when she said you were one hot guy." Erza's comment slipped right out of her mouth and it took her less than a second to realize what she had just said.

Gray's eyes widened in surprise at Erza's random comment, taken aback from the fact that Erza would say that to him. Although in Erza's case she just couldn't believe that happened and a blush dusted her cheeks as they both stared at each other. She wanted nothing more than to die of embarrassment at that point and Gray's surprised face had her both swooning on the inside and nervous as to what he might say.

"Sorry to bother you two, but Gray could you help Terrance in the kitchen for a quick moment?" Mrs. Cromwell couldn't have picked the best possible time to come for both their sake.

"Sure, no problem" He replied making his way towards the kitchen door, taking a quick glance behind him to meet eyes with Erza again only for her to shift her gaze away a second later.

"Idiot!" Erza berated herself for allowing such a comment to slip through and couldn't muster a thing to say to Gray right after.

"Now don't beat yourself up sweet heart. Sometimes you just can't hold back when you care about another person as much as you do to Gray." Mrs. Cromwell said as Erza looked up at her feeling an aura of a caring mother radiating off of her.

"I do care for him, but I don't know how to go about it." It amazed Erza internally to know that she was being open about her emotions to a woman she barely met. She still can't discuss them with others in the guild, but with Mrs. Cromwell it easily flowed out of her.

"Then I'll tell you. All you've got to do is behave normally and don't be afraid of your emotions, sometimes you've got to let them take the reins." Mrs. Cromwell replied looking at how Erza gave it much more thought.

"I guess that may help me." Erza had decided to try it out and see how far she would go casting aside the hard exterior she usually had.

"There you go and don't worry about Gray. He'll understand just perfectly, the boy has a good head on his shoulders although you may need to take things into your own hands." The red head was more than grateful for the advice and she found it interesting that she was given this by a cafe owner she had barely met that day.

"Thank you very much Mrs. Cromwell" Erza said as her fears and nervous attitude calmed down significantly.

"You're welcome and please call me Alice." She replied refilling Erza's tea cup and moving on to help what remained of the day's customers.

 _ **"Maybe I should let me be myself around him, it couldn't hurt to try."**_ Erza thought to herself prepared to continue their day normally.

* * *

At the same time as Alice and Erza were having their small conversation Gray had gone to the kitchen looking for Terrance. He had been accustomed to calling him by his first name since he first did a job for them years ago, but when it came to Alice he couldn't do it and just called her Mrs. Cromwell. He went through the unchanged kitchen smoothly, remembering some of the old equipment with the occasional new tool in place of an old one until he found who he was looking for.

In front of him was a middle aged man, his hands caked with white flour holding onto a wrench, an apron on his body slightly messy from the orders he's made and a little girl who sat on a stool a little ways behind him. The little girl took notice of Gray and signaled her farther of his presence, to which he shifted his head over to look at the ice mage. His face was the same as always in Gray's eyes, always looking to be smiling in any circumstance and before Gray knew it the little girl was at his side.

"Hey Gray, it's a good thing you showed up today!" The little girl said smiling up to the older teen, her name is Carrie and her appearance resembled very closely to her mother's although her eyes were a darker shade like her fathers.

"Hey squirt and how come?" He asked as he looked towards Terrance who was rubbing the back of his head, chuckling quietly to himself.

"My dad's fridge went on the fritz and he needs your help to keep some things cold till he fixes it" Carrie had then moved to her father's side crossing her arms as he kept chuckling.

"Come on Carrie, you make it sound like I'm using him as a freezer." He said, although Carrie did have a comeback for that if her memory serves her right.

"Didn't you guys pay him to be one though?" She may have been little then, but she trusts her memory to help her out now.

"Alright you win, but for now hurry and deliver the last of those orders okay." He said and smiled watching his young daughter take a few plates and quickly making her way to the front.

"I still haven't gotten used to seeing Carrie as old as Wendy yet." Gray commented as the last time he had seen her, she was no taller than his knee and was about five.

"It's surprising how fast kids grow up these days, but anyhow it's good to see you Gray." Terrance had a similar way of feeling about how big his daughter had gotten as well, but for the time being something was at hand. "Let's get down to business."

"What do you need me to do?" Gray asked even if he had a general idea as to what it would be that he needed to do.

"Like Carrie said I need you to keep the produce inside cool long enough for me to get this thing up and running again." Gray nodded in response and Terrance got straight to work while he used his magic to lightly cool the produce inside.

"Feels like on back on a request from you." Gray said making small talk to pass the time rather than just waiting.

"It sure seems so, the only difference is that this isn't my family's slow beginning." Terrance replied as Gray was the mage he had hired to do the exact same thing he is now, but it was a much older fridge than the newer one he has now. "However, I'm interested to know that you brought the Queen of the Fairy's here on a date. I didn't know you had it in you Gray."

Gray was shocked to know Alice must of said it that way to him and he could feel his cheeks warm up at the thought of him and Erza on a date. Terrance on the other hand took Gray's silence as a confirmation and was amused to know he went big when he picked out a girlfriend.

"Y-You've got it all wrong, me and Erza aren't on a date." Gray needed to cover this whole misunderstanding up before something else happens he can't control.

"Oh do I? Call it what you will Gray, but when a boy takes a pretty girl to a cafe, just to the two of them mind you, then I'd call that a date if I ever heard one." Gray had given what Terrance said into profound thought and realized that it did look like they were on a date.

"Okay maybe it looks like that, but I swear it isn't one" Continuous chuckling was heard from the outside of the fridge where Terrance was repairing it after Gray said that.

"Deny it if you want, but don't let her hear that. It may hurt her feelings and besides I think it's about time you did take a girlfriend. You've been single for as long as I can remember." Terrance had talked with Gray like this on multiple occasions when he was first starting out with the cafe and his older fridge broke down.

"Hey! I wasn't single, I had girls before" Gray had been on dates before, but they were under some circumstances.

"Your little escapades with that Loke character don't count since those girls went with him in the end." He may not be a teenager anymore, but gossip was something some customers tend to do in the cafe and even Terrance could hear some of the things they said.

Gray was at a lost for words since Terrance was pretty much right and those dates he went on were doubles. He'd let his date enjoy her time, but somewhere nearing the end he would lead her over to Loke. Loke's reputation as a huge playboy was built of his own doing, but he couldn't have gotten there without a little support from Gray.

"Come now Gray, I know you care for her more than anyone else out there. It didn't take much to figure out who you were buying those special cakes for every year, not to mention you usually talked highly of her at times." Gray's usually subtle about the thing he says about his friends, even Natsu, but he was shocked that Terrance pieced that together.

"I...well that may be true, but..." Gray was level headed when it came to conversations, but this one had him in a bind that even he didn't know how to speak his mind.

"There aren't any 'buts' to this Gray, all you've got to do is open your eyes to the truth that you haven't seen yet." Terrance was amazed at how well he had done in giving Gray a piece of mind to his life.

"What's the truth then, since you can see it and I can't." And like that Terrance internally face palmed, but he decided to let it go and hoped Gray would figure it out soon.

"If I tell you then where would be the fun in the discovery?" He replied wanting to keep what he said earlier cryptic, it would teach Gray about his own feelings in time. He just knew it would soon. "Anyway, I'm almost done so don't you worry about leaving your girlfriend alone out there any longer."

"Oh can it old man" Gray said in a joking manner, but on the inside he was in complete wonder of what he said. _**"What truth am I not seeing?"**_

* * *

Erza sat patiently waiting for Gray's return, but was glad she had time to herself to think about how she was going to handle things with a newer perspective in play. She had decided to exquip from her armor, donning a simpler look of dark denim jeans, a black turtle neck and her regular boots to start. She felt it right to not rely on her armor when it came to her dear friend, rather than let him support her.

She had then took notice of a young girl who looked no older than Wendy serving tables in such a fluid way that it seemed she was adept to working in this cafe. Before long the young girl was making her way towards Erza's table a plate in her hand that heightened Erza's cheesecake sensors to max. It was one she hasn't smelled in a while, one that was always given to her on her birthday.

"Wow, so you're Erza Scarlet! Gray sure knows how to pick them." The girl said setting the slice of cheesecake down. Even though it was there Erza's interest was pointed to the girl when she said Gray's name.

"Yes I am, may I ask who you are and how you know Gray?" Erza asked although her hands were moving on their own to reach for the cheesecake.

"My bad, I should've introduced myself. My name's Carrie Cromwell and I got to meet Gray when I was about two years old." She replied looking at Erza who was both looking at her and enjoying the wonderful cheesecake. "You sure like your cheesecake as much as Gray said you do." She joked a bit, however she was cautious not to unintentionally insult the Titania.

"I do, this is one cheesecake I look forward to each year. I've always searched for the cake shop that made this, but I could never find it." Erza was in true bliss, finally finding the place where the greatest cheesecake she's ever eaten are made.

"Yeah my parents are great cooks and bakers themselves, although we only make these for a limited time. Right around this one actually." Carrie said and noticed how Erza slightly deflated when she heard that they are only made for a short amount of time.

"You don't say, then it must be a high priced item than." Erza really wanted to get more, she was willing to make a separate budget just to get her hands on more.

"It sort of is, we sell it just as much as a regular meal at times for a few slices. It seems like a lot, but the reason is that the ingredients themselves are expensive to come across, also they are made around this time because those ingredients are at their best." Carrie looked on as Erza seemed to be contemplating something.

"Then buying an entire cake must come at a high price correct?" Erza wanted to know who'd get this type of cake for her, even at such a high price.

"It does, the only person who did buy an entire cake like that would be Gray. From what my parents have told me he'd buy it for a special person who'd love it more than anyone." Carrie answered her and witnessed the look of surprise on Erza's face when she said who does it.

"So Gray's been buying such expensive cake for my birthday." Erza said aloud in surprise, but she was also happy to know that Gray thought of her as a special person.

"You're that special person then! How come you didn't know that Gray bought you those cakes?" Carrie was confused since a person usually knows who gives them gifts on their birthday.

"Because I left the gift with the others without writing down who it came from." Came the voice of Gray who was making his way over to his seat, in which Carrie excused herself and went on with business.

"Why didn't you put your name on it?" Erza was wondering why Gray would go and get her a gift, but not say it came from him.

"It never crossed my mind to do so, I just thought that so long as you enjoyed it then I'm fine without writing my name on it." He replied casually, but he had then taken noticed of Erza's current apparel. "You changed clothes?"

"I thought it be better this way than in my armor." Gray was glad to hear that. To him it meant that she was learning to rely less on the armor and live life without a breastplate over her body.

The two mages spent a little more time talking to one another in the cafe, Erza listening to how Gray first came to the cafe when he was about fifteen and finding out about the specially made cheesecake. While Gray looked on at how Erza was intrigued by his recounting and the little satisfied face she made after finishing her fourth slice of cheesecake. Here and there Erza had the slight tingle to get closer to Gray, but she proved with her will power to be the stronger.

A little ways away, both Alice and Carrie kept tabs on the couple giving each other a reassuring smile at how they were doing. Alice had also taken notice of some of Erza's behavior and hoped that struggling feeling she looks to be having is her own way of trying to open up to Gray even more.

The sun soon began to set and Gray decided that it was time for them to head home, of course he offered to take Erza home and she was more than happy to hear him say that. She went outside to wait while Gray went up to the cash register to pay for the food they got.

"That'll be 1,275 Jewel Gray." Alice said to him as he payed for the expenses, yet before he left Carrie came rushing out to meet Gray, holding a bagged box in her hands.

"Wait up Gray!" She called reaching him in time before he opened the door.

"What is it Carrie?" He asked to which she extended the bagged box out to him smiling for some reason he didn't know.

"Dad said that this cake's the one we didn't have last week for your girlfriends birthday, so he wanted to make it up to 's on the house!" She was being very enthusiastic about it, but Gray assumed that her parents might have put a lot of hype in him getting a girlfriend.

"Don't tell me you're on the "Gray's got a girlfriend" train too." He said in an annoyed tone, but Carrie simply stuck her tongue out at him in a playful manner.

"Good luck out there Onii-san," Gray's eyes widened when she said that and Carrie's face had a full blown blush realizing what she had just called him. "I-I mean Gray, good luck out there G-Gray."

"Heh, didn't think you'd still call me that." Gray said with a small smile forming on his lips, but Carrie was too busy being embarrassed to want to talk any further.

"W-Whatever, just get going! Your girlfriend's waiting!" She exclaimed rushing back into the kitchen, not daring to look back. Gray chuckled a bit and waved goodbye to the Cromwell family as he exited the cafe, the complete cheesecake in his hand.

Gray quickly caught up to Erza, continuing their walk towards the Fairy Hills girls dormitory taking a few scenic routes to enjoy their walk a little more while they talked to each other. Soon enough the surrounding area became very familiar until there they stood on the place in which Erza's life in Fairy Tail changed. She sat down on the hill slope over looking the river as the sun continued to set, the sound of footsteps walking across the bridge dying down with the last crosser making it to the other end and the ice mage decided to stand next to her to enjoy the sunset.

"It's been a long time since we've been here." Erza said, looking back all those years ago when she was alone and had no one to turn to.

"It sure has, but the memory is still with us." Gray said putting down the bagged box and placing his hands inside his coat pockets.

"I never truly thanked you for what you did for me back then, have I?" She brought up her knees to her chest, crossing her arms on top of them, while her best friend still stood in his stoic manner.

"No you haven't, but that's alright. You've come a long way since then." Gray coolly said and Erza felt a tingle go down her spine for some reason she couldn't explain. _"Besides I've managed to create a great friendship with such a beautiful woman, so that's as much of a thank you for me."_

"R-Really, well if that's what you believe than I'll take your word on it." She replied nervously as the battle to subdue a blush from forming was raging in her own body, but she received some support from the intoxicating smell of something delicious.

"I do and I've actually got something for you." Gray said turning back towards the bag and picking it up, "This is a late birthday gift from me and the Cromwells, sorry I couldn't get you this last week Erza." He said handing her the bag and a grateful smile grew on the red head's face looking back at the ice mage.

"It's quite alright Gray and give my thanks to them when you see them again please." She replied placing it next to her, her heart beating increasing fast knowing that Gray had always bought her this cake for her past birthdays without her knowing. He thought of her as a special person and that alone wouldn't stop her emotions to run wild.

Erza sat there battling her emotions, afraid to ruin this moment, but a thought had crossed her mind, one she remembered from Alice. _**"Don't be afraid of your emotions, sometimes you've got to let them take the reins."**_ This had cleared her mind and the internal battle was over, she let her feelings take control.

In that instant Erza stood up abruptly and hugged Gray, the ice mage was caught off guard and had no idea of what to do. He wiggled a little to see if she was trying something, but she hugged him tighter and kept him in place. Gray was confused and worried about his friend, for she hardly hugged a person like this unless something is bothering her.

"Erza are you alright, talk to me." He was stricken with worry, she was a proud and strong woman and he fears that this place might have triggered something in her.

"No Gray I'm not." She replied, her face buried within his shirt as it was slightly covered by his coat's unbuttoned side.

"Tell me what's wrong and I'll help you deal with it Erza." Gray tried to push her shoulders forward so she could see her face, but she wouldn't budge. _"Erza I'm worried about you, please let me in. I'll always be by your side, you can count on that. I won't abandon you."_

Erza's heart was ready to explode within her chest. Gray was being sympathetic to her at a level that she couldn't believe he'd go to. Had she learned just how much he cared for her, Erza would've found her oasis in the desert of despair she went through after her escape from the Tower of Heaven. Even yet to the years that followed when she would cry herself to sleep at times when she remembered about those she had left behind.

"This is something I have to do on my own Gray." She still wouldn't look up to his face, even if she allowed her emotions to take control there was still a slight fear in her.

"No Erza, you don't have to do it on your own anymore. You have everyone at the guild to rely on. You have me at your side no matter what." Gray spoke kindly to his old childhood friend, he may not be the best with words, but it doesn't mean he wouldn't try for her sake.

"That's the thing Gray, you're what's wrong with me." She replied, but the ice mage was confused as to what she meant. "I didn't realize it until now, but you have this way of being so important to me. You bring joy to me more than I thought you could and care about me more than I had expected. I've opened up to you more than anyone else and... and..." Erza just couldn't take anymore of it, so she let her actions do the rest.

She looked up at the him, her brown eyes meeting his dark blue ones with a need that had to be filled. She drew him away a little to give her room and moved her hands to the sides of his face. Her smooth hands felt the chill of his skin as she held his cheeks softly and with one fluid motion she brought his lips down on hers. His cold lips felt smooth to the touch for her, the taste of mint was present as his natural aroma of peppermint and pine wafted into her nose. She put every last ounce of the burning passion in her heart into the kiss hoping it would make it clear how she feels about him.

Gray was in a state of shock when she brought her lips to his, it took him by surprise when she pulled his face down and now she was kissing him. Even in this time of shock he couldn't help but feel how incredibly smooth her lips were, the smell of cherry invaded his sense of smell thanks to her hair. Had Erza felt this way about him this whole time? He had no answer to this and soon the kiss between the two ended.

Erza had a blush adorned on her face as she settled her self down, her heart still beated fast but it would calm down soon enough. Gray on the other hand had the look of surprise on his face, unable to form words as to what just happened. She let out a small cough and picked up the cheesecake she left at her side when she was sitting down.

The sun had finally set and dusk was upon them, illuminating as much as it could for the city of Magnolia while the lacrima lamps began to turn on for the night. She looked at him in the eyes again, her blush yet to have left and Gray regained his composure, albeit still unable to say anything to what had just transpired.

"T-Thank you for the lovely evening Gray, I hope you understand what has been bothering me now." Erza said as she quickly pecked him on the cheek. "Oh, and don't forget your clothes Gray." And with that she walked away back to Fairy Hills on her own, cheesecake in hand. She was hoping that there was someone there she could talk to about this, she needed help. _**"Maybe I should speak with Levy, she's a very reliable person and Lucy as well"**_

Gray was so confused about what had just happened, he had just shared a kiss with Erza and his own damn heart won't stop beating so fast. He had always thought her to be cute, very strong willed and he greatly respected the woman she is after all that she's been through, but he couldn't have imagined this to be an outcome. His head was buzzing with so many questions as to why he was feelings this way about her now when he was interested in Lucy, until it him like an avalanche.

 _ **"All you've got to do is open your eyes to the truth you haven't seen yet."**_ Those exact words is what Terrance had meant when he said it to him back at the cafe. Was the truth staring at him the entire time? Was he unknowingly in love with Erza this whole time and barely realizes it now? His head was spinning at the thought that he had fallen for his best friend and yet liked another girl. He was brought out of his confused state at the sound of one ever so annoying voice to him.

"Oi! Ice princess I've been looking for you!" Natsu called out as he ran up to him.

* * *

Natsu decided to confront Gray about his feelings once and for all to settle this matter and make sure Gajeel didn't ruin it for him. He had his best blue furry friend at his side as they scoured all over Magnolia for the ice mage, however Happy had barely realized that his fish went missing at some part of their flight over the city. He had left Natsu in search of it, claiming it wasn't good to let a good fish rot away.

Natsu had then carried on searching everywhere he could, he would've tried to pick up his scent but the amount of people had prevented him from doing so until later as the day was coming to a close did he pick it up. Natsu followed the scent all the way towards a very remote location with grasslands on the other side of the river and homes on the side he was on. He soon spotted Gray standing near the river for some reason and decided to call out to him, as now was his chance to confront him.

"Oi! Ice princess I've been looking for you!" He called running up to him, but he simply looked at him before picking up his discarded garments and began walking away towards his house opposite of where he was facing originally. "Hey don't ignore me!" Natsu yelled pissed off, but couldn't help himself indulging his scent which was much stronger now and he found it interesting that he smelled like Christmas.

"Not now flame brain, I've had a long day and I just want to go home." Gray was still trying to get the kiss out of his mind, but no matter what he tried it would come back. His mind wouldn't settle down and he kept walking down the street as Natsu caught up next him holding both hands behind his head.

"Whatever snowman, but just hear me out for a sec. I came to this answer myself." He was feeling a burst of giddiness about telling his rival what he had decided, but Gray paid little mind to him for the while.

"Can you tell me tomorrow, I really just want to go home." Gray was very bothered at this point with his inability to make sense of what happened and his own impatience with Natsu.

"I can't do that cold cut, it might get ruined by Gajeel if I wait." Natsu wasn't about to lose to Gajeel and his own anger fueled at the thought of him, which wasn't the best thing at the moment with an angering Gray nearby.

"I said to hold it for tomorrow flame freak!" Gray couldn't take anymore of wracking his brain around for a good answer and stormed away, passing by an object that shined blue due to the light of the lacrima lamp.

"Don't get your boxers in a twist ice pants and get back here! This is like super important!" Natsu shouted rushing right after him, but he ended up slipping on the thing that Gray had passed and it turned out to be the fish Happy was looking for.

Gray turned around ready to tell Natsu off one more time until he crashed right into him, toppling them both over. Gray felt something hot press against his lips and thought the flaming idiot had his hand on his mouth, but when he opened his eyes he was met with another pair. Gray immediately shoved Natsu off of him and began spitting in random directions, he has never been so disgusted in his entire life until now. The feeling of throwing up all the contents inside of him was beginning to build up in his stomach.

 _ **"That's so sick, ugh! Mavis help me! Did I just k-k-k..."**_ Gray couldn't finish his thought as it just rewarded him the sensation of bile going up his throat once again.

Natsu on the other hand was completely entranced by the way Gray's lips felt on his own, how their coolness simply steamed with his hot fiery ones. He's never really kissed anybody before, but if that's how it feels than he wanted to do it again. Plus he did it with Gray, so it worked in his favor for when he told him his decisions, but for now he'll hold back on it. Kissing him was a plus for how he was feeling towards the ice mage, although he felt a stronger sense of heat on his face when he locked eyes with the beautified Gray while they were kissing. He had no idea that a tint of blush slightly lighter than his own hair appeared on his cheeks.

Natsu couldn't explain it, but he felt warmer all over when he thought even further about the kiss, though it only lasted for about six seconds he couldn't help but like the taste, it had a mixture of mint and cake although he's like the only person he knows of that likes those two together. However, he smelled another scent on Gray that begged the question he wanted answered.

"Gray who were you just with? There's another scent on you." Natsu needed to know who that other person is because if it were Levy than there was going to be a problem.

Gray stopped wiping his mouth and spitting to look at Natsu as if he were crazy. How could he play off what just happened just now like nothing?

"The FUCK! Dude you just kissed me and now your asking me who I was with like it didn't even happen!" Gray was angered, confused and disgusted all in one and wanted nothing more than to leave this day behind him. _"I'm hurt Natsu, I thought it would mean more to you."_

"I know it happened and it does mean something to me, but right now I need to know who were with." Natsu was slightly worried that he offended Gray, but he knew that he had to push his questions harder on him to get an answer.

Gray had no idea what he meant when he said it mattered to him, but when he repeated his question he became slightly on edge. Why does he want to know who he was with? For now he'd play it safe and answer little by little.

"I was with Erza" He answered and Natsu gave it more thought before grinning from ear to ear.

"I see, you smell like her because she was demolishing your ass into the floor for doing something stupid, huh?" Natsu was hit plenty by her for a while so learning that his rival got beat too made him happy.

"Y-Yeah, something like that. Now would you leave me alone?" Gray was hoping that the idiot would be too caught up at laughing at him for his non existent demise to let him go.

"Whatever ice princess, I'll tell you about it some other time then. Today's been rough for me too." He replied and Gray was grateful for that, but he heard the sound of something flying. In no time flat Happy was beside Natsu with anime tears in his eyes.

"Natsu I can't find my fish." The blue cat cried until Natsu pulled up the ruined fish he stepped on that left his sandal mark on it.

"Sorry buddy, I'll get you another one later. Come on let's get going." He said as Happy climbed onto his back.

"But Gray's right there, didn't you say you needed to talk to him?" Happy asked as he waved a paw to him and Gray waved back.

"Nah, I think I'll tell him later. Now let's go." Natsu said and Happy said his signature Aye as he was preparing to carry Natsu back home.

"You two act as if I'm ten feet away you know that." Gray said as the duo were about four feet away from him, yet he was still looking disgusted with Natsu.

"Whatever ice princess, see you later." Natsu replied waiting on Happy to take to the sky.

"You okay Gray, you look kinda weird?" Happy asked as Gray simply shook his head telling him not to worry.

"I'm alright, just super disgusted is all. I may need to see a doctor to find out if idiocy is contagious." He replied, as Happy nodded to his answer. "Goodnight"

"Goodnight Gray." Happy said finally taking to the skies again with Natsu in tow who was in deep thought as the sight of Gray slowly began to disappear from behind the many homes.

"You know what Happy? Let's go to Lucy's house, I need to ask her something." Natsu needed to tell someone of what happened, maybe even telling her may give him more help to get Gray. _**"Lucy will probably know all sorts of ways to help me beat that stupid metal face from taking away my Gray. This is a great idea!"**_

* * *

Erza has made her intentions as clear as possible in her own power, sharing an intimate moment with one of her oldest friends. Gray has now realized that there was a deeper connection that he felt for Erza he had no clue about after all this time growing up with her. Natsu's managed to get a little Gray action too, but he either ruined a somewhat difficult to understand night for Gray or added more to it. Not to forget that Natsu ended up sharing his first kiss with Gray and hoped to do it again. The trouble doesn't stop there since our little celestial spirit mage and solid script mage have to deal with two power houses after the same man as them.

How are they going to deal with such a dilemma? Find out in the next chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** _Here's chapter 9 Ladies and Gents, took me sometime to put together and many rewrites but this the end result. Read, Review and Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 9

It was a regular night in Levy's dorm room, her mountain of books surrounding her bed as she read her latest book. Ever since coming back to the guild, she was delighted when her best friend had decided to go along with the partnership although she was still fretful when it came to the news Loke brought back to the table. She tried to get rid of it as best as she could with keeping her mind busy, but it kept replaying in her mind and it truly bothered her.

 _FLASHBACK_

 _Levy and Lucy were busy discussing how Gray acted when they were on their way to the library, when Loke had returned with no Gray in tow. Levy noticed how he looked like he was troubled about something and he sighed before he spoke up to them._

 _"I've got some news to tell you Luce." Loke began, but Lucy interrupted him as she turned to look at him._

 _"I do too, me and Levy have decided to work together to get Gray for ourselves!" She said happily and Loke's eyes widened as he turned to face Levy. He was shocked to hear that, believing what he had been told earlier to be a lie._

 _"Hold on, Levy did she just say that you two are after Gray together?" He didn't see that one coming, out of all people he didn't expect to have Levy liking Gray._

 _Levy was blushing since she hadn't expected Lucy to be so open about it with Loke and to have her crush told to someone else so fast. She wanted to reply to him, but she decided against it since she fully knows how much of a stuttering mess she becomes. She merely nodded to him in response and he leaned back in amazement of how these two friends easily banded together like that._

 _"Whoa, didn't see that one coming..." He simply said before the two gave him a questioning look. "What?"_

 _"Didn't you say that there was some news for me?" Lucy said as he sat up again, completely focused with a serious expression on his face._

 _"That's right, this concerns the both of you now. Juvia is not the only problem you two will have to get through." He said and both Lucy and Levy's interests were piked at hearing this._

 _"What do you mean Loke?" Levy asked as her blush slowly disappeared from her face._

 _"I mean that there are other players in your mission for Gray." The two mages looked at each other in concern. The only person they saw who took any interest in Gray at all was Juvia, so that begs the question of who else was into Gray._

 _"Where did you hear this from Loke?" Levy wanted to know who gave him this information and who the other people are._

 _"Cana told me and get this, she's one of the people that's into Gray." Loke said catching the blonde and bluenette by surprise. They knew Cana was one of Gray's childhood friends, but for her to like him wasn't what they thought would happen._

 _"How do you know there are others beside her?" Lucy asked as she tried to locate the card mage somewhere in the guild._

 _"It wasn't easy, but from the way she was talking to me it seemed that she wasn't alone." Loke said as he regained Lucy's attention. "She was serious when she said she liked him and the only time I've seen her that serious was when the guild was under attack and when someone took away her beer."_

 _"Great now we've got to handle Cana too!" Lucy whined as she couldn't believe that one of the guild's sexiest women was after her Gray, not to mention that she was just as bold as Juvia when it came to things._

 _"Don't worry Lu-chan, I'm sure we can still get through this. The only thing that really concerns me are the other people she said." Levy said as she tried to think of the people who would want to be with Gray other than Juvia and now Cana. "How many people do you think Cana was referring too?" Levy asked to Loke, surely with a solid number she could dumb it down to who they could be._

 _"To me it sounded like two or maybe three people, but I'm not very sure. Plus she said it in a way that meant that they were all working together." Loke replied causing Lucy and Levy to ponder this further._

 _Not only do they need to overcome Juvia of all people, but they also have to get past a group of three maybe even four other guild mates working as a team. That team was drawing most of their concern because for all they knew, Cana was working with Juvia and another person or two. Those two could prove quite the challenging pair given that one person has known Gray since they were children and the other is a devoted follower to him._

 _"Look girls I know it may seem that this doesn't look good, but I'm sure you two will do just fine. Plus you guys have the spirit of the stars to back you up!" Loke said saluting to the two before vanishing into a shimmer of light._

 _"Let's just hope he's right." Lucy said as Levy nodded her agreement, deep in thought of who else would be at Cana's side._

 _FLASHBACK END_

Levy was quickly pulled out of her thoughts when she heard knocking coming from her door and quickly made her way to answer it. She was surprised to see Erza standing there, a bag in her hand and her face had signs of restrained joy and worry at the same time. Levy could also smell delicious strawberries coming from the bag, but focused on Erza.

"Levy come to my room as soon as possible, I need to talk to you." She commanded allowing Levy to simply nod before walking away down the hall.

The solid script mage was confused to what had just happened, but decided not to go too far into it. She quickly bookmarked her page, putting away the book on a nearby shelf and went after the red head as quickly as she could. Not holding up Erza was a universal rule that many have learned and the consequences that follow if you do as well.

The petite bluenette stood in front of Erza's dorm room waiting patiently for the red head to open the door for her. In no time she was let in and seated herself on her couch watching the requip mage pacing in her living room as if she was dealing with a difficult situation. The smell of strawberries coming from the box was prominent in the room and Levy would guess it to be a cheesecake Erza bought, although this one was somehow different from the rest.

"Levy I need to confide in you, this is an important matter and I need someone else's help with it. Will you help me?" Erza asked stopping in her pacing and Levy smiled up to the mage.

"Of course Erza, what are friends for?" She replied and Erza let out a sigh of relief before sitting down next to her.

"You see this has to do with Gray." She began and Levy couldn't help but slightly flinch hearing his name.

"Did something happen to him, is he alright?" Levy asked, trying not to sound very panicked but concerned instead.

"No he's fine, it's just that we spent some time together after he came back with you." Levy's attention blew out to max when she said that she spent time with him. "And well, a few things had happened between us."

"I'm sure it's alright Erza whatever happened between you two, Gray will most likely forgive you for it." Levy wanted to escape before she did something unexpected to Erza and she was completely afraid of that.

"No Levy it wasn't an argument that happened, it was something very different." Erza was slightly feeling her heart rate increase and just at the mere thought of her kiss with Gray had her on the verge of blushing like mad.

"Oh, then tell me what happened. I can lend a hand if you need it." Levy's worries were growing increasingly now that she found out that it wasn't an argument the two had.

"Well we spoke to one another about my time when I first arrived in the guild and soon enough one thing led to another very quickly and..." Erza was searching for the right words to say what happened without surprising Levy too much. Too bad she knew it would anyways.

"And? Come on Erza you can tell me." Levy didn't want to know, she truly didn't want to but the good friend instincts she had overpowered her to let Erza continue.

"I kissed Gray"

Levy's world came to a stand still when she heard what Erza said. All the time Levy spent at the guild thinking of who would like Gray and Erza had skipped her mind. She didn't see a way that Erza would fall for Gray, nothing seemed to connect the two at all.

"You k-kissed Gray?" Levy was shocked to know that Erza had kissed the ice mage and couldn't believe that was true.

"Yes I did, it was on impulse that I did that. I tried to describe how I felt about him, but my words were failing me so I took action. As the saying goes, 'actions speak louder than words'." Erza wasn't wrong about that, she put everything she had into that kiss to make her point.

"B-But what about Jellal, didn't you say that you started liking him? And not to be rude or anything, but how did you start liking Gray?" Levy was so filled with questions and she was worried that Erza was teamed up with Cana. Making that challenge down right impossible now.

"I had thought through it and I believed that I did like him, but in a way I figured out that I was only crushing on my childhood appreciation of him when he rescued me back in the Tower." Erza replied and Levy knew that it made complete sense of why she liked the man, but that was only one of her questions answered.

"Then what about Gray? How did you ever come around to like him and k-kiss him?" Levy was still trying to get the thought of those two kissing to pass her mind, but it was if it didn't want to accept it.

"T-That's very personal, however I'll tell you as much as I'm comfortable with." Erza said as Levy nodded in understanding waiting on Erza to speak again. "I hadn't really thought of him other than my close friend, until I noticed how Cana was behaving with him. She said something that got to me and I thought about it some more. It later turned out that I wasn't seeing the bigger picture." Erza had decided to speak of a few points of her sudden change of view for the ice mage.

"What do you mean?" Levy was interested, but when she heard Cana's name she became nervous to find out if they have a connection.

"I realized that Gray was doing much more for me than I had led myself to think. Jellal had helped me get through life in the Tower sure enough, but there were others who helped guide me too." She replied remembering everyone from back then like Uncle Rob, Simon and Milliana. "But Gray was the one who helped me get through the aftermath, he was the first to go further than anyone else who tried to get close to me."

"But you seemed pretty connected with everyone when I joined the guild Erza." Levy said now receiving a smaller history lesson on the relationship between Erza and Gray.

"That may be true, but Gray was there for me every step of the way. I had trouble talking with the others at first after he truly welcomed me into the guild, but that didn't stop him from trying." Erza continued, remembering the times where she would stutter talking to one of the older mages like Macao. "He was so stubborn to get me accustomed to the guild and before I knew it, I became a true Fairy Tail wizard with his help."

"Wow, I didn't know you two were that close." Levy had always thought of Erza as the strong independent woman who could anything if she set her mind to it.

"Well now you know, but that's where I require your help," Erza said as Levy looked at her nervously. "You see, with that kiss I chose to be closer to Gray more than what we already are and I need help doing that. Both you and Lucy came to mind."

"That's nice to know Erza, but shouldn't you talk to Mira? She's best suited in this field than us." She asked now worrying about her best friend, but at the same time for herself because she realized how angered Erza looked when she said her name.

"That she demon is the last person I'll ever go to for this advice." Erza growled out and Levy was afraid to say anything if it was going to anger Erza. "So will you help me?"

"I would like to help you Erza, but there's something you've got to know first..." Levy knew she was walking in a minefield at this point, but it'll better for her to know now than later, right?

"Very well, I'm listening" Erza knew that Levy was willing to help, so she was more than willing to hear her out.

"Well..."

* * *

When Levy first entered Erza's dorm, another event was taking place at Lucy's apartment to which the blonde wasn't prepared for. Lucy was busy finishing up her nightly routine before bed; happy but also troubled by the fact that Cana was in the race for Gray and she wasn't alone.

The blonde beauty couldn't believe it herself, but after talking with Loke when she got home, Lucy knew she still had a chance. With her mind confused on her current situation she was glad to be finally home and get a good night's sleep to ease her worries.

"Yo Luce I need your help!" Natsu had sprang right behind her right when she was about to get into bed, scaring the blonde out of her skin.

"Lucy Kick!" She spun around with incredible speed and hit him right in the stomach making the dragon slayer fly right into her wall falling right onto her floor with a thud. Sadly his furry friend was also caught in her attack, sliding slowly off her wall knocked unconscious from the strength of the blow.

"Ugh...Luce what was that for?" The dragon slayer groaned, still amazed by the strength the celestial mage possessed in her.

"Don't you know you shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" Lucy exclaimed as Natsu finally sat up rubbing his sore stomach.

"Sorry about that Luce, but that doesn't matter right now. I need your help" Natsu replied making his way over to her couch, laying Happy down on one of the couch pillows.

"Sure I don't need sleep anyways, so what do you need help with." Lucy sarcastically replied, but the smile on Natsu's face told her it didn't get to him at all.

Thanks Luce! This is super important so don't let anyone else know okay" Natsu did a complete 180 and was being pretty serious, which caught Lucy off guard.

 _ **"If Natsu's being like this than it must be pretty serious..."**_ She thought to herself looking at Natsu before nodding in understanding.

"Remember that thing I asked you guys in the afternoon, well I went deeper into it to find out the truth and it turns out that I do like the person." He said and Lucy was ready to start gushing for her best friend who finally liked someone.

"So who's the lucky person you like Natsu?" Lucy was just waiting for him to say Lisanna, it was pretty obvious in her opinion.

"Gray" He replied smiling to her and in that second Lucy's brain froze any other thought she had.

* * *

In the Celestial Spirit World, Loke was about to enjoy his favorite drink when a knocking on his door stopped him from taking a sip. With a bothered sigh he made his way to open the door, thinking hopefully that they just needed his opinion for a quick second so he could go back to relaxing. He opened the door to see Virgo standing there, her emotionless face ever so present and asked her to come inside.

"Onii-san we have a problem" She said standing in front of him as he made himself comfortable on his couch.

"Alright tell me what's wrong." Loke replied, taking a sip of his drink.

"Natsu is in love with Princess's man." She said monotonously, but Loke spat out his drink in shock, coughing harshly for air.

"H-He's what!?" Loke couldn't believe that dense Natsu was in love with Gray. _**"How the Hell did that happen?!"**_

"The others are gathered in the Grand Hall, Princess is talking with the dragon slayer at the moment." Virgo continued as Loke began to calm himself down from his earlier reaction.

"Thank you for telling me Virgo, you can go back to them I'll see you all there soon." Loke replied to her and Virgo bowed her head as she dismissed herself.

Loke was confused as to how Natsu could like Gray, he knew they cared for each other like brothers, but they were always at each other's throats. He sprang up onto his feet and made his way towards the Grand Hall, he had to see this for himself. He passed the groves of beautiful plants and the multitude of Nicola enjoying themselves, but it didn't take him long to reach his destination.

A large building reminiscent of the ones from the old age of Fiore, where the stone buildings where beautifully crafted to show such high society. Of course that outside appearance couldn't compare to the much more modern items inside since it's construction, one of which was a huge lacrima screen that allowed the spirits to view the human world if they needed to.

"Looks like you finally showed up, the damn brat's gotten herself in a loop now." Came the snarky reply from Aquarius, but on the inside she was troubled on how this problem would escalate.

"What's been happening since Virgo went to get me?" Loke asked as he looked up at the screen to see an exclaiming Lucy flailing her arms around with a confused looking Natsu on her couch.

"The Young Miss began to ask how it happened and if he was truly serious about liking Gray, although he has yet to reply to her." Capricorn spoke up as they continued to watch their friend and master deal with the dragon slayer.

"Let's hope things don't wrong for Lucy." Loke said hoping she could cool down a major misunderstanding if it came up, but he was prepared to intervene if need be.

* * *

"Calm down Luce, you make it sound like it's the end of the world or something. I'll tell you but you've got to sit down." Natsu said as Lucy paced a bit before giving in and sitting down on her bed.

"Fine Natsu, I'm sitting now tell me how this all happened." Lucy was beyond worried of how this could play out since she hadn't expected Natsu to like Gray at all.

"I didn't get it at first myself, but than Gray told me he was falling in love with me and that's when I started thinking that maybe we could make it work." Lucy was worried at first then it turned into complete shock when she heard that Gray was falling in love with Natsu.

 _ **"Is that why Gray wasn't interested in me because he was secretly gay this whole time?"**_ Lucy couldn't help thinking it would be the reason as to why, but she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Then just a little while ago I went out to look for him and tell him that I was willing to make it work." Natsu was smiling to her when he thought of it, but to Lucy she was deflating with defeat that both she and Levy were crushing on a possible gay guy.

"Wow Natsu, I'm so happy for you" Lucy said with sarcasm, restraining her will to Lucy Kick him again and end the night. All her bravado against Juvia for nothing so it seems, she also had to break the news to Levy.

"But that's not the best part Luce, I kissed Gray and it was like nothing I've ever done!" Natsu was excited to say this bit and Lucy was in shock that he did it and simply gave in to the fact that Gray was gay. She couldn't blame Natsu since she's positive he's very new to this.

"That's nice to know Natsu, well it's late and I want to get some sleep so you should get going for your house." As far as she knew that's seven people disappointed; her team and Cana's for sure.

"But Luce this is where I need your help! I don't know what to do now." Lucy wasn't pleased to know her crush was gay, but seeing Natsu so happy made her feel guilty not to help just so she could spite him.

"Hmm...fine. I'll help you, but not now because I want to get some sleep alright. Tomorrow at the guild is a good start for me to help, okay?" Lucy didn't want to deal with this for now, so hopefully he would agree to her terms.

"Thanks Luce you're the best! Tomorrow at the guild it is!" Natsu replied happily, holding onto Happy and jumping right out of her window. Lucy closed it after him and sat on her bed, completely drained from her interaction with Natsu and wasn't looking forward to dealing with him.

* * *

Back in the Celestial Spirit World, many of Lucy's spirits were in shock to know the ice mage was gay. They were also feeling very sorry for their master that she had to go through that, but one spirit was beyond angered and focused it on Loke.

"This isn't good Loke, I thought you said that stripping boy had a thing for the brat!" Aquarius was furious that after the brat stood up for herself it crumbles down because that ice mage was gay.

"I'm positive Gray is straight and he does like Lucy. Something isn't right with Natsu, but that's as much as I can say okay." Loke was trying to calm down her temper, but that was something he hoped Scorpio would do for him.

"I'm sure Loke will fix this babe, for now let's get going the show's over anyways. We are!" Speak of the spirit, Scorpio had come in the nick of time and led her away which Loke soon noticed little hearts coming out from the top of her head.

"You best be going Loke-san, the Young Miss doesn't seem very happy. Reassure her that everything will be alright." Capricorn said as he walked away, back to his own devices while Loke began to shimmer and head for the human world.

* * *

"What am I going to do?" Lucy questioned, how can she face either one of them now. She crushed on one who was actually gay and the other doesn't even understand this concept.

"Don't worry Lucy this isn't the end yet." Loke said as he materialized in front of her, the rest of the glow dimming away.

"It kind of is Loke, Gray's gay and he's in love with Natsu." Lucy was saddened to know it, but Loke wasn't going to let her down now. Hopefully Gray would forgive him after what he was about to say.

"Look Lucy you've got it all wrong. Gray didn't want me to tell you this, but he was actually crushing on you for a while now." Loke had said his secret, full knowing that he broke one of the bro codes, but this was an emergency that required drastic measures before it spiraled out of control.

"W-Was he really?" Lucy as blushing for the fact that he liked her back, but the thing with Natsu popped up in her mind. "But what about Natsu? How do you explain that?" She was still weary of everything at this point.

"I don't know how to explain it, but don't worry I'll find out soon. Your handsome guardian will do everything in his power to secure your romantic interest." He said in his best 'knight in shining armor' voice, which got Lucy giggling at him.

"Thanks Loke, you've made me feel a lot better now." She said getting back to bed as he smiled down at her.

"No problem Princess, don't worry about a thing. It'll work out soon enough." With that he waved good bye, thinking he did pretty good with the rescue but he still needed to talk to Gray about this.

* * *

"So you and Lucy have formed a team to capture Gray's heart and share him once you do?" Erza said her arms crossed as Levy was slightly sweating from nervousness.

She had finished explaining her time with Gray, Lucy's crush with him and how they teamed up to overcome Juvia since she'll be their main objective. It wasn't intentional at all to say this, but Levy was beyond intimidated when she started talking about being with Gray that she couldn't keep her mouth shut. Now Erza has summed up the last bit of her and Lucy's team up and was afraid to know what might happen.

"Yeah, but we've got more information that Cana and possibly two or three others are also invovled." Levy added and yet again Erza seemed angered by hearing a person's name.

"That explains her behavior today and I've got a good feeling who one of the others may be." Erza said, closing her eyes as she pondered an idea in her head for a bit while Levy waited, still nervous of Erza's reactions. "I'll help."

"You'll help? What do you mean by that?" Levy was confused as she randomly said that compared to their previous topic.

"I mean that I'll join your team and help you overcome the others. One of which I'm positive you two will need my help with. Of course you must also share Gray with me, understand?" Levy was blown away by the idea of having Erza on their side, it would make their worries disappear having her with them.

"Yes of course! We'll talk about it some more with Lucy tomorrow and get the details settled with." Erza smiled with understanding and Levy smiled back before leaving for her room in joy.

It was one thing banding together with Lucy to beat Juvia, but having Erza on their side was a sure way of victory. Still she was concerned with the fact that they will require Erza's help with one person she believes to be in the race for Gray. Even if they needed to share him with another person, all in all Levy knew that they'll be well set now and Lucy would be happy to know that one of her own team is helping.

Back in Erza's room, she was quite surprised that those two would be very interested in Gray and didn't think it would come to teaming up. Then again she hadn't expected to finally realize that she loved Gray for who knows how long. Erza was also thinking of who those people may be, three of which are Cana, Juvia and Mira, but who are the other two? She'd have to give it more thought tomorrow with the other girls, for now it will be a good night's sleep

 _ **"An alliance with Lucy and Levy will be very interesting, hopefully we're still a step ahead of Mira and Cana."**_ Erza thought as she slowly closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her, hoping her dreams were filled with cheesecake and Gray.

* * *

At the similar hour three female figures were standing by near the entrance of the Fairy Tail guild hall, their identities shrouded by the guild building's shadow. An unusual meeting time, but perfect to report without having anyone become suspicious of their activities.

"So anything new to report in?" Said the taller of the three, although she wasn't by much compared to the second tallest.

"Apparently Erza's had herself a little date with Gray for the evening." The second tallest said as she also remained vigilant in case of anyone would notice them.

"She's moving fast, hopefully that was all she managed to get." The tallest responded until she took notice of the third member who was busy fidgeting with her fingers. "Do you have anything to add? Any info on the slayers?"

"Umm...So far Gajeel hasn't made a move yet, but it's different with Natsu." She replied which caught the interest of the other two women.

"Oh and what did our pink haired friend do?" The second asked as the first stood with great interest as to what he might have done.

"He...well he...kissed Gray." The third girl had slightly began blushing from the memory of when she saw them, but was thankful Natsu hadn't picked up her scent at the time.

"He what!?" The second exclaimed in a hushed tone while the third tried to calm her down.

"Those two together hadn't crossed my mind before, they'd look adorable together." The first commented, but the second simply glared at her.

"I'm not going to let a moron ruin that image I have of Gray." She said as the first merely raised her hands in surrender.

"Now, now what are we going to do about that?" The third spoke up, trying to change the subject before this argument broke out even further.

"We'll just have to be careful in the meantime, besides he'll have to get through Juvia if he wants to be with Gray." The first said as they all nodded in agreement with her claim.

"She's right, so there's not much to worry about." The second said although she was still miffed for the fact that Natsu kissed Gray.

"Don't worry ladies we'll win over Gray, together to the end." The first said as the second agreed with her.

"R-Right..." The third slightly stuttered, but went unnoticed by the other two, thus concluding their little meeting.

* * *

A misunderstanding has Lucy questioning her crush, Levy's got Erza to be apart of their alliance and Natsu is no longer confused(in his own way). Although trouble is coming over the horizon, a mysterious group of women are keeping tabs on them, but who are they and what are they planning to do to get to Gray? Find out what happens to these Fairy Tailers next time on Emotion Potion and an Ice Mage!


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** _This chapter had me stumped for a while until I got it to the best of my abilities. A new bit of news is that I've got a prologue up as well for another story, so check it out when you get the chance. I'll get a little more into detail about it there, but for now enough talking. Here's the chappie for you, so please review and enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 10

The sun shined as the morning hours were dwindling away, the guild's members were as jovial as ever, most of them anyway. One person wasn't as happy as the rest, especially with a clingy water mage pestering him as he sat at the bar counter. Gray had come in pretty early in the morning due to a restless night filled with dreams of his kiss with Erza and nightmares of the one with Natsu.

"Gray-sama are you okay? You seem tired." Juvia asked as she quickly took notice of the dark circles under his eyes after her fan-girling moment had passed.

"Other than getting a bit more sleep, I'm fine" He replied suppressing the urge to yawn, while a huge smile was pressed on Juvia's face.

"Then Juvia will allow Gray-sama to use Juvia's lap as his personal pillow!" She proclaimed with the entire scene playing in her mind already, yet Gray didn't see that happening.

"That's alright Juvia, you don't need to do something like that. Gray could always sleep in the guild infirmary if he wanted to." Mira had interjected on their conversation as she came near the two. Juvia was suspicious of the bar maid, while Gray looked at her questioningly.

"You sure Mira? I could always walk back home and go to sleep there." He asked as Juvia became worried struck realizing that she wouldn't be able to spend time with him.

"No!" Mira responded a little too quickly and blushed as the two mages stared at her. "What I meant to say is that it'll be alright to do so. There's no need for you to walk that far when you're already half asleep silly." She laughed it off which worked in her favor with Gray, however Juvia still had her suspicions.

"Well thanks then Mira, I'll head up there right now." He said getting up from his bar stool, the water mage prepared to follow him if it weren't for Gajeel grabbing her arm.

"Rain Woman, you and I need to talk." He said dragging her away as she comically flailed her arm, reaching out for her Gray-sama. Gray watched as the long haired man dragged her away and simply shook his head before heading for the staircase.

* * *

"Gajeel-kun why did you take Juvia away from Juvia's Gray-sama?" She wasn't so pleased that he took away the opportunity for her own lap to hold her precious Gray-sama's head.

"Listen to me carefully, I've pieced everything together as best as I could and it leads me to you. Now tell me what you did yesterday" Gajeel had been so bothered with being interested in the ice mage that he immediately set out to find out when did this all happen to begin with.

"J-Juvia doesn't know what Gajeel-kun is talking about" She decided to play the innocent card, but this was Gajeel and that hardly works on him, unless you're Levy.

"Don't lie to me Rain Woman, you and I have known each other for years so tell me the truth." He was determined to get the truth, at least then he knew why he was acting and feeling this way about the ice princess.

"Fine Juvia can't lie to Gajeel-kun. Juvia purchased and Emotion Potion from her last mission and wanted Gray-sama to drink it, but Juvia accidentally dropped it into the punch and Gajeel-kun drank it instead." She recapped what had happened and Gajeel was not too happy that his emotions weren't his own.

"I hope you understand what you've done because now your damn feelings for that frost pop are now my own." He continued to grumble to himself that this had happened to him, that another one of her failed attempts to get the mage involved him now.

Juvia truly didn't want to burden her dear friend with such a predicament and wanted nothing more than to help him get through this, until an idea popped up in her mind that she slightly didn't like. This was something she was willing to do for the sake of her friend and hopefully garner some sentiment from the iron slayer.

"Against Juvia's personnel wishes, Juvia proposes that Gajeel-kun team up with Juvia to win Gray-sama's love." Sharing the man she loved was something she didn't want to do, but if Gajeel felt the same way as she did than he may go for it.

"Rain Woman if this is your way of making it up to me, than you're gonna have to try harder. Although I may take you up on this offer to see where it goes, I am curious to know how cold iron would feel." Gajeel may have suggested something that was way too much for Juvia to handle, where now she was lost in the legendary boys' love in her imagination.

"V-Very well Gajeel-kun, we shall conquer Gray-sama's love together!" She may have her own doubts, but Juvia was confidant that their team up will work in their favor. Her's mostly though.

Juvia went into further detail with him surprisingly he became quite interested in what she had to say, but unknown to the two a womanly figure heard as much as she could about the conversation the former Phantom Lord members had and was ready to report to her leader once she gets the chance. For now she had to be careful not to have Gajeel sensing or sniffing her presence too close or else he'd become suspicious.

* * *

Back with Gray, the trip to the staircase was much more difficult than what he had imagined it would be without a good night's sleep. He walked to the best of his ability, but he felt his movements to be really sluggish especially as he went up those steps. With each step he took he had the sensation to be swaying to the sides until he was mid way up the staircase and missed a step.

He reacted as fast as he could and tried to grab the railing to steady himself, but what he grabbed didn't feel like wood. He moved his gaze over and noticed it to be a muscular tanned arm, leading up to the face of the guild's 'Manly' man.

"Sorry about that Elfman, guess I'm much more tired than I thought." Gray said as he started trying to make his way up again.

"Asking for assistance is Manly Gray!" Elfman said as he walked at his side, placing an arm over his shoulder to support him.

"Thanks Elfman" Gray said, but Elfman was more than happy since he had Gray at his side with no Natsu to take his attention away. _"You truly are one of the Manliest men and that's something I know you'll always be."_

It had been these comments that had Elfman completely engulfed by Gray, which actually began with the brawl they had when Gray beat Natsu. The compliments he received when they brawled always drew him closer, wanting to know why Gray all of the sudden talked to him in that way. For now Elfman would leave his wondering in the corner of his mind, right now he'd enjoy being so close to Gray.

As the two made their way up the stairs and walked towards the infirmary, one particular woman wasn't pleased to see the sight. In her green dress revealing her ample bust with her glasses resting near the tip of her nose, Evergreen sat alongside the Thunder Tribe tapping her fingers in an annoyed fashion.

 _ **"How dare he look at that ice mage like I don't even matter!"**_ She was furious to see the man she secretly had an interest in make goo goo eyes at Gray. It was one thing that he hadn't spoken to her for a few days, but now he goes looking at another guy like a love struck idiot. Last time she checked, Elfman was very interested in woman or is he no longer attracted by her sex appeal?

 _ **"What could he possibly have to offer him?! I'm very capable in beauty, fortitude and being a WOMAN!"**_ Evergreen wasn't about to be spited that her sex appeal had lost the interest of a man and have him just randomly turn gay. Of course the thought of Elfman becoming gay at such a fast rate had her question it for a few seconds, but was lost in her internal jealous rage.

"Chill out Ever, glare any harder and that wall over there's gonna have two burning holes through it." Bickslow joked as he noticed her hard gaze plastered at the two mages, but the self proclaiming 'Fairy Queen' wasn't in the mood for joking.

"Evergreen, if it's truly bothering you than go and speak to him about it instead of baring your eyes. Your magic makes people turn into stone, not burst into flames." Came the stoic reply of Freed as he took a sip of his tea.

"Fine! If you think it's really the best option than I'll do it." She said with a small huff as she trailed after the two, leaving her team mates confused as to why she got so angry so fast.

Evergreen followed the two towards the infirmary, however she wasn't going to confront either one just yet. She saw them exchange a few more words and her tempered soared again when she noticed how Elfman looked at Gray. Could that man ever take a hint that maybe she would want to be looked at in the same way? Not long into her own thoughts did Evergreen notice Elfman waving goodbye to Gray and moving on, this was her chance to talk to him about their seemingly nonexistent relationship.

"Elf-nii-chan there you are, Mira-nee has been wanting to talk to you for a while." Lisanna said as she rounded a corner, quickly grabbing her older brother's arm and dragging him away.

"Coming to my sister's call is Manly!" He replied walking right behind her, however Evergreen was pissed that her chance was ruined by his own little sister.

With a defeated sigh she walked back to her table crossing her arms, once again placed in a foul mood and looking over the balcony for the white haired muscular man. Ever's team mates looked at her questioningly, but decided to avoid aggravating her further. Bickslow and Freed shared an uneasy look with one another until a grunt gained their attention towards where it came from.

"Ever, if you didn't get to talk to him than go to Gray." Laxus had his eyes closed for most of the time they were in the guild that day, but he could over hear what the others were saying. He quickly judged by her sudden return and pissed off mood that she didn't get her way this time.

"But Laxus why would I need to speak to him? This really doesn't have to do with him at all." She replied changing her focus towards him, although he still hadn't opened his eyes.

"He may be the person you need to talk to involving Elfman, so go." With that he settled himself in a relaxed position in his chair and Evergreen knew it was the end of the discussion.

She got up from her seat again and walked back towards the infirmary where she watched Gray walk into. If Laxus was right then all she had to do was get Gray to have Elfman look back her way. Of course if things didn't go smoothly, there was always Plan B and she would have to share a few 'words' of encouragement with him.

She knocked on the door once she got there, but there was no reply or footsteps of anyone making their way towards the door. Evergreen tried again this time louder than before, but there still no reply and her already thin patience just wore out. With on swift movement, Evergreen opened the door ready to yell at Gray to open the door when someone knocks, however she was met with an interesting sight.

Laying on one of the beds was Gray, his hands behind his head like a makeshift pillow even with one under them, body stretched out in a lazy fashion and a quite snore escaping his lips. Evergreen would've thought about many different reasons he'd be up here, but just to go to sleep hadn't crossed her mind. She walked closer to him, unsure whether or not to wake him up now or come back at a later time.

"Honestly, how could I tell him off if he's so asleep?" She commented to herself, but gave the mage another look over. _**"He does look cute though."**_

Evergreen instantly drew back from taking another step and was shocked to know how she easily commented the ice mage. She looked at him once again and her mind simply became fuzzy to all other things around her. The small things about Gray became her focus, like how his pale skin nearly matched that of a small blanket of snow or how peaceful he looked compared to the almost always agitated look he wore because of Natsu.

She then looked at his face and was instantly captivated by his looks, sure they weren't as gruff as compared to Laxus and Elfman, but they had a smoothness she couldn't wait to touch. Ever's gaze slowly moved down to his lips where she thought on how they would feel. Would they be as warm as any other person's or would they be cool and icy like his magic?

Evergreen couldn't explain this feeling of wanting to find out, but she couldn't hold back any longer. She moved even closer to his side, already feeling the cooler air around him and slowly bent over. She found it interesting that she was feeling like a young teenager again, moments before receiving her first kiss. Unlike that time, she never came close to meeting lips because a certain spirit chose this time to run into the room.

"Gray we need to..." Loke locked eyes with Evergreen as she stood straight up in an instant, blushing for the fact that she may have been caught stealing a kiss from the sleeping mage. "Evergreen what are you doing?" Said mage was trying to think on her feet.

"I was...I was um...Going to yell in Gray's ear! Yeah that's it, I was going to yell in his ear" It came up to her since she was bent over near his face and seemed to be the most logical thing.

"Why would you do that?" Loke asked and Evergreen wasn't ready to come up with a lot of different excuses on the fly, especially being caught in an embarrassing situation.

"What is this 20 questions? I don't have time to answer you, I'm very busy so move out of my way." She said in a haughty tone, brushing pass the spirit who looked at her quizzically before returning to the matter at hand.

Loke rushed towards Gray's bedside and began shaking him as hard as he could to wake him up, of course that earned him a fist to the jaw from the previously sleeping ice mage. He held his sore jaw looking at the ice mage who sat up and rubbed his eye before glaring at the spirit.

"What the hell was that for!?" Loke yelled as Gray continued to glare at him shifting his feet over to touch the floor.

"You know I hate to be woken up like that." He said, dropping his icy glare and took on his normal bored look. "Is there a reason you woke me up Loke?"

"Dude you have to answer me truthfully. Are you gay?" He barely finished getting over the initial pain from the first blow to his jaw before he felt it again even worse.

"If there's one thing I hate, it's when my sexuality is questioned. There better be a damn good reason you're asking Loke or else there's gonna be a lion popsicle in the middle of this room." Gray hated when it was questioned, just because he stripped that one time with a bunch of homosexual men around doesn't mean he is. He's got nothing against them mind you, but he just doesn't like to be teased about it or have people thinking he is.

"I've got two reasons you ice prick; one is to get a pissed off mermaid off our backs and two is because Natsu told Lucy you kissed him." Loke was expecting something to happen when he said the last bit, but what he didn't expect was for Gray to close in on him and hold him harshly by the sides of his lapels.

"That didn't happen on purpose you got that!" Gray looked pretty furious with Loke at this point and the lion spirit was both surprised with his tone and how he admitted to doing the deed.

"Easy Gray I understand, just tell me what happened." Loke replied calmly, trying to ease him up or else he'll get another blow to his handsome face. "Man, now I'm a bit afraid to ask you if you actually said that you were falling in love with Natsu." In an instant Loke regretted opening his mouth again and fully expected the fist he was dealt with.

"Who the hell said I was falling in love with him. For Mavis' sake, I barely told Gajeel I wasn't so why are you asking me now!?" Gray thought this was all behind him and wanted nothing to do with that conversation ever again.

"Natsu was the one that said that!" Loke was angry with Gray for being hit like that three times, but at least he got his answer, even if it costed him punches to the face.

"That damn pink idiot better not be telling the whole damn world." Gray said prepared to punch the memory out of the dragon slayer's mind.

"Wait up man, I still need to talk to you. This is really important." Loke had quickly stopped Gray from leaving the room and he stood in front of him with a serious expression.

"What is it Loke?" Gray crossed his arms waiting for a reply, biding his time before he beats the hell out of Natsu.

"You know how I said Lucy stood up to Juvia for you right?" He asked as Gray nodded in response, "Well there are other people too..."

"What do you mean 'other people'" Gray didn't understand it, but something was telling him he wouldn't like it.

"I mean Lucy isn't the only one who likes you." Loke revealed the truth to which he wasn't sure it was a sad or awesome truth.

"W-What?"

"I've got word that there are other people gunning for you man. You're like number one target for a few people that I've learned of." Loke will keep the others he knows a secret for now, just until he's sure that it's okay to tell Gray.

"There's no way someone besides those two likes me, even if I'm the hottest guy here." Gray joked although he felt uneasy because one of those other people he knows to be Erza.

"Easy now arrogance is very unbecoming, besides I'm Fairy Tail's number one playboy so you've got to deal with it." Loke joked along, but he noticed the slightest look of unease from his friend and wondered what was bothering him. "Spill it Gray, you know something."

Gray cursed himself for not being careful and judged whether or not he would tell Loke about last night. It was one of the most unbelievable things to happen to him that left him feeling like he was on cloud 9, but also left him confused about his own feelings. With an exasperated sigh he decided to tell Loke what happened between him and Erza.

"Listen to me carefully Loke, last night I spent some time out with Erza and things got really, uhh..." This is one problem Gray fully knew he needed help with, that being his inability to discuss intimate things with just about anyone.

"Things got what man? You're leaving me in suspense here." Loke was interested to know what happened, but he was getting a vibe that didn't sit well with him.

"Well she...we sort of...kissed" Gray stood there waiting for Loke to react in any way though the spirit simply stood there in a confused stupor.

"Why would she kiss you?" Loke said as he scratched his chin in a wondering manner, although Gray was surprised on how he didn't react as much as he thought.

"You're taking this pretty well Loke." Gray hadn't expected him to be this calm about it, until he noticed the malicious glint in his eye.

"Oh don't get me wrong Gray, I'm furious that you're kissing other people behind Lucy's back even after I gave you my blessing." He replied allowing some of his Regulus to shine in his fists. "But I'd rather not get beat by Erza if she found out."

"I understand you're mad Loke, but this has set me back so much that I don't know what to do anymore." Gray sighed and sat down on the nearest bed, trying his best to keep his thoughts in order.

"You really are hopeless when it comes to true romance." Loke said, letting go of his anger to help out his old friend in his time of need. "I'll help you out with this."

"Thanks man I appreciate it. By the way, true romance and you don't go hand in hand." Gray joked, comfortable once again thanks to their knack of changing the atmosphere easily.

"Say what you want, but it's still my help you're getting. Now tell me all of it so I could get a general idea of the situation." If they were going to get Gray back on track, they're gonna have to start somewhere.

* * *

Loke may have run off when Lucy had entered the guild, but she wished she ran after him now more than ever. There was a tense air around her table since the people residing their included herself, Levy, Erza and Natsu. The dragon slayer of course was getting restless while he waited for Levy and Erza to leave so he could talk to Lucy about Gray.

Erza on the other hand was waiting for Natsu to scamper off and start a fight with someone so she could discuss with Lucy on her agreement to join their alliance. The two in the middle were at a cross road, trying to communicate with each other about their current situation. Lucy could feel the tense air around them until it was broken by the ever so happy Happy when he saw Carla walk through the guild doors.

"Carla and Wendy are back from their mission!" Happy said delighted as he flew off towards the doors to greet them.

"It's too bad she missed the celebration yesterday, it was her completed mission that made it the 30,000th one for Fairy Tail." Lucy said as she watched the flying blue cat make his way towards the white furred feline.

"Don't forget that she did a joint mission with Bisca and her family." Levy added as said family trailed right behind the young dragon slayer.

"I'm sure Mira may have saved something for them." Erza said as she continued to wait patiently for Natsu to do his usual activities, yet he just sat there bored out of his mind. "It's interesting to see you aren't trying to get into any fights Natsu."

"I'm not in the mood, besides the ice statue isn't around for me to hold..." Erza, Levy and Lucy looked at Natsu with surprise as he didn't realize what he had just said.

"Natsu did you just say that you want to hold Gray?" Erza asked as he still had his bored expression, not really reading the mood around him.

"Yeah I did, so what?" He replied as the blonde and bluenette looked over towards Erza, both worried about her reaction. Lucy due to not taking into account Natsu's inability to keep some things to himself and Levy because she knows about Erza's position when it concerns Gray.

"I'm sure he means in a fighting sense Erza!" Lucy interjected placing herself in the line of fire, in Levy's eyes, just to protect him from a blow he could get back up after going through a couple of tables and a support beam or two.

"Well that too, but I want to feel how our bodies would be if I had him in my arms." Somewhere in the back of Lucy's mind she wished her pink haired best friend wasn't that much of an idiot when it came to keeping his mouth shut.

The scene that this interaction painted would look comical to others, but to the ones in it was a different story. Levy's mind wondered into the nether area where her erotic fantasies played that scene of Gray and Natsu together, Erza was no different except her's might have gone further if the slight blush on her face was any indication. For Lucy though, it was more of a point to raise the white flag and let Natsu deal with his fate, as for him he sat there clueless as to why everyone was looking weird.

In a shining flash a sword was pointed at Natsu's neck, taking him by surprise along with Lucy and Levy. They all looked at Erza who had a face that seemed ready to kill and Natsu was sweating bullets at this point since that glare was pointed at him.

"How dare you think of _**MY**_ Gray in such a way!" The red head growled out, leaving Levy scared out of her mind, Lucy in a similar state and Natsu to change from a look of fear to a face of defiance.

" _ **YOUR**_ Gray!? He isn't anyone's but mine got it! Back me up Luce!" Natsu wouldn't let anyone ruin this for him, Gajeel almost did it for him before and this time he wasn't going to break so easily.

"Why are you siding with him Lucy? I thought you were in a team with Levy for Gray or are you going behind her back and siding with Natsu?" Erza pointed an accusing finger towards the blonde who shot her arms up in surrender.

"I am with Levy, but Natsu came to me wanting to get help on getting Gray's attention." Lucy completely revealed Natsu's motives out of straight fear for her life, but a small spark of courage had ignited within her to question Erza's statement. "How do you know that!? Wait what do you mean by your Gray!?"

In her overall time being a member of Fairy Tail, Lucy knew she hasn't talked back to Erza let alone question her. Defying Erza wasn't on her to do list, but it was something she admired in Gray when he knew what was right and she believed she picked it up from him.

 **"What are you doing Lucy?! This is no time for thinking about Gray!"** Lucy mentally scolded herself, but took a breath of relief when Erza dropped her finger and drew back her sword.

"Levy told me and w-well if you must r-really know...I have an interest in Gray." Erza quickly admitted to them and she slowly retreated back with a small blush dusting her cheeks.

The extreme atmosphere dissipated instantly as the entire table looked at Erza in great shock. Levy and Lucy looked on as this was one of the most rare occasions that they see Erza blush. They always found it super adorable when they got the chance, since she is such a strong woman it makes her look even cuter to act like a very shy person. Natsu was simply astounded that a person like Erza could actually blush about something, to him he believed she wasn't capable of acting like a girl.

"S-So where do we stand on this." Levy spoke up amidst the awkward silence and the four friends looked at each other, trying to base their answer for this predicament.

"Like I said to you last night Levy, I'm going to join your alliance with Lucy." Levy was glad to hear she was still willing to join and Lucy was surprised to know that Erza was actually joining them. Their luck just turned completely from this point, she was sure of it.

"What about you Natsu?" Levy had to ask, she thought through it and came to the conclusion that having a dragon slayer on their side would be beneficial.

"If you guys are going to share Gray than fine, I'll join this dumb alliance." Natsu was none too happy about the idea of sharing Gray, but the underlying fear of Erza was a constant motivator for him to easily give into this alliance and avoid beatings from her at most. "At least I got to kiss Gray..."

Natsu was feeling smug about that fact and outwardly expressed it, although this earned him a devastating blow by the Great Titania which sent him rocketing away. He was luckily stopped when he hit a support beam and slid to the ground completely dazed from the punch. At the same time Wendy, Carla and Happy just arrived to see that happen.

"What happened to Natsu-nii?" Wendy asked as she looked at Erza ho had a satisfied smile on her face, crossing her arms and leaning back into her seat.

 _ **"That's what he deserves for defiling Gray like that..."**_ The requip mage thought, slightly feeling better after that attack.

"Welcome back Wendy and don't worry about him too much. He insulted Erza's strawberry cheesecakes is all." Lucy quickly made the excuse up, but it did match up on how Erza would've reacted. "So tell us how your mission went."

"Sure thing and we're sorry we missed the celebration party." Wendy said as she made her way towards Lucy's side.

The blonde scooted over to allow the young slayer to sit next to her, greeting Erza and Levy as she sat. Happy flew off to check on his fallen partner, which left Carla to sit on Wendy's lap, but she felt her mind being struck by her precognition.

 _CARLA'S VISION_

 _Carla could tell she was in some sort of cave, the sound of the ocean nearby as if it were just right outside. Oddly enough she saw a crowd of many of her guild mates walking behind Gray for some unknown reason, until he turned to look at them. His face showed signs of concern as if he was about to commit a crime he didn't want to._

 _"It's good to know that you could all make it, but this is where the trip ends." He said in a straight voice and immediately jumped back from the large group as Happy and Wendy did the same and got away._

 _"FREED DO IT!" He yelled as a nearby over looking cliff edge revealed the hidden Freed, his rune writing rapier already forming a giant rune barrier around the members. Obviously many tried to flee the rune created perimeter, but were too late and now trapped._

 _"Gray what are you doing!" Erza shouted as she banged on the rune barrier looking at Gray with worried eyes. He looked at her with downcast eyes and stepped back even further as she continued to bang on the barrier._

 _"Happy get Toby to start the ritual!" Gray yelled as the flying blue cat rushed his way out of one of the many small crevasses in the cave wall that illuminated the rather dark cave._

 _"It doesn't have to be like this!" Lucy cried as she stood next to Levy who was trying her hardest to break the barrier wall as fast as she could._

 _"I'll try to contain it as long as I can Gray, hopefully this does it for sure!" Freed called out continuously rewriting the barrier as Levy breaks through another set of runes._

 _"I'm sorry you guys, this is the only option left. It's better this way."_

 _END CARLA'S VISION_

The white cat shook slightly in shock, this was very descriptive and yet at the same time it was so strange. Gray, Wendy, Happy and Freed had something to do with the a ritual involving a large bulk of the guild, but what worried her most was that this was happening for a reason and they were in their right state of mind. Something was about to happen to the guild and it seems to be up to those four to save the guild.

"You okay Carla you blanked out for a bit there." Wendy asked as she wasn't really reacting to much once she began to sit next to her.

"I'm fine Wendy, just caught up in thought." Carla replied as the group continued their conversation often looking back at the still dazed Natsu until he stood up again.

Carla had barely returned from a mission only to receive such a foreboding vision concerning so many of her fellow guild mates. What happened to cause Gray and the others to react to such drastic measures and seal their friends within a rune barrier. Only time would tell and she fears the repercussion if she were to interfere with the future.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** _Hello my fellow readers and authors, sorry I haven't posted something in a while, but the college boy of me has to get his work done first. It's gonna be my third week soon and I've got to get on top of my assignments so updates are probably going to spread across very thinly, maybe not. I'll try my best to write as much as I can and give you all a chapter to read. Without any further ado here's chapter 11!_

* * *

Chapter 11

The E.L.L.N. alliance plus Wendy, Happy and Carla sat talking with one another about Wendy's previous mission (for those wondering, E.L.L.N. stands for each of the members' name respectfully since Natsu wanted a name for their group). The Sky Maiden spoke fondly about the quality time she spent with little Asuka when the mission was completed, but as Erza guessed it, Mira came by with some leftovers from the celebration.

"I hope you enjoy it Wendy, plus I managed to save some of the punch everyone loved so much." She said smiling, placing down two wrapped up plates and a cup filled with the magically altered punch.

"Thank you Mira-san." Wendy replied, placing the plates to the side although she wanted to try the punch a bit. The others had told her how great it tasted when the got a cup, so she wanted to find out for herself.

She removed the little bit of wrapping at the top and brought it towards her lips, but she barely got a drop in before the cup was shot right out of her hand. It was so fast she didn't see where it came from and the only thing left of what happened was her wet hand. Strangely it wasn't sticky from the punch rather than it was just plain water all over her hand.

"You okay Wendy?" Lucy asked worriedly as she saw the cup itself fly right out of her little hand, while Natsu scanned the room to find out where that shot came from.

"Yes I'm fine, but it looks like I won't be able to taste that punch anymore." She said, but Mira reassured her nonetheless that she'll make more when she gets the chance.

"Aha!" Natsu grinned looking at one particular direction and the girls looked at him to see what caught his attention.

"What is it Natsu? Did you find who shot that water at Wendy?" Levy asked, although with that precision she had a good idea who did it and the same could be said about the others except for Wendy and the cats.

"No, but I did find Gray." He said grinning from ear to ear as he pointed towards the ice mage as he walked briskly for the guild doors. "Oi, ice princess!" He yelled across the guild, but it fell on deaf ears as he didn't turn back to look at him and left the guild.

Natsu was about to chase after him until a shimmering light appeared next to him and Loke stood with a hand his shoulder. Lucy actually wondered where he was and now guessed that he spent his time in the spirit world.

"He's got somethings to look into Natsu, so leave him alone. Wendy can you go after him and keep him company for a bit?" Loke said as he shifted towards Lucy's side, but Erza could tell that something was up.

"Me? Are you sure?" Wendy had a pretty good relationship with Gray, but hadn't expected to be asked to keep him company.

"Yeah you'll be fine, besides you're the like the little sister of the guild so some support from you can better his mood." Loke explained as Wendy nodded her head timidly, getting up from her seat and following quickly after Gray with Carla and Happy in tow.

Once the young dragon slayer was out of super hearing range, Loke let out a breath of exhaustion as he sat down next to Lucy. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in tiredness with the rest of the group waiting on him to explain what just happened, all but Natsu who wanted to run after Gray himself only to be held back by Lucy.

"Care to tell us what's going on Loke?" Erza asked, preparing herself to tackle Natsu if he escapes Lucy's impressively strong grasp.

"Let's just say that Gray's confused..." He replied to them, although the look they were giving him easily told him that he needed to explain himself.

* * *

"Gray-san wait up!" Wendy called as she ran behind the ice mage, trying to catch up before she grew even more tired. _**"He sure does walk fast..."**_ She thought to herself as he turned to see the little dragon slayer rushing towards him.

"You're back already Wendy?" Gray asked as he hadn't seen the dark blue haired girl come in earlier.

"Y...Yes, I came back...not too long ago..." She replied with each breath she took, unsure how he didn't even look slightly fatigued at the speed he was going at.

"So you're tagging along with me? I would've thought that you'd stay back at the guild." He said as he slowed down significantly to be at Wendy's pace.

"You looked troubled, so I came along to see if I could help you somehow." She meekly replied, finally regaining her breath. She felt a hand pat the top of her head and looked up to see Gray smiling towards her.

"Thanks Wendy, it's always nice to know that there's someone looking out for you." Gray said as a slight blush spread across Wendy's face. "Since you're here maybe I could get a second opinion on what's bothering me."

"I'm always ready to listen" She replied kindly, but Carla became attentive to find out if he would discuss anything that could relate to her premonition.

"This is for your ears only and Carla's too I guess." Gray said as he began searching through his pockets, until he pulled out some Jewel. "Here Happy, go buy yourself some fish." He said giving the blue cat the Jewel as a thankful smile spread across the cat's face.

"Really Gray!? Thank you!" Happy replied before flying off towards the coast to see what great catch the fishermen brought in for the day.

"Honestly, he's so very easy to bribe." Carla said floating alongside Wendy, "And don't think you could do the same towards me, I'm staying by Wendy's side."

"Don't worry Carla, I can trust you to keep this between the three of us without worry." Gray replied to white feline, who hadn't expected him to say that.

"Then why send out Happy, you've known him longer so that he could gain your trust to keep quiet?" Carla questioned wanting an explanation for his actions.

"True I have known Happy longer, but I've learned from those past years that he could easily let anything slip from his mouth." Gray replied as Carla could believe that happy-go-lucky cat couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"See Carla he has a reason, so Gray-san what's been bothering you?" The little sky maiden asked as they walked past the commercial district of Magnolia.

"Well, how should I put it?" Gray wanted to explain it so that she could get his position on the problem easier. "Let's say that you like someone, but all of sudden you realize that you have even deeper feelings for someone else, do you get me?"

"So you like a girl, but now you realize you share a deeper bond with another girl and don't know what to do, right?" Wendy surprised Gray with her correct understanding and hand't expected the young slayer to get it so fast.

"Wow, I'm impressed." Gray replied as Wendy quickly waved it off, becoming flustered over his compliment.

"It's really nothing, I just picked it up after a while at the girls' dorm."

"It's still impressive to me. So what is your take on it?" Gray always had the feeling that Wendy was much more ahead of her time than other kids her age, but than again she is a member of Fairy Tail. Growing up comes faster there than any where else.

"From a girl's perspective, you better hope you're not leading anyone on because that just makes you a jerk. N-Not saying you are one, b-but it will look that way!" Wendy had no idea why she was becoming so nervous around Gray, she felt comfortable around him more often than not.

"A-Anyhow, I think that it comes down to how you really feel about the two. One person must have a deeper impact on you, right?" Wendy had given her best answer, yet Carla had found it quite interesting to see another man of Fairy Tail struggle with romance.

In the time since she and Wendy had joined the guild, the only people they saw have such trouble were Alzack and Bisca. Romance isn't something Carla pays a lot of attention to, but she finds it interesting when in deed one person does have a deep connection to another within the guild.

"Well if you ask me, you shouldn't beat around the bush for too long. You need to find out who you are most connected to and see if the both of you actually work." Carla voiced her opinion seeing as though the ice mage could use another opinion other than a young girl's.

"Now Carla, these things aren't so simple because you have to think about how committed you have to be to your partner and their needs." Wendy said as she placed her white furred friend within her arms.

"You're much more mature for your age Wendy, I even think bits of Mira's vast knowledge on stuff like romance has brushed off on you." Gray joked as the dark haired girls cheeks were dusted with pink once again.

"Of course she's much more mature, she is after all a young lady who should have an array of knowledge at her disposal." Carla spoke up as Wendy merely smiled at her friend's high claims of her.

"I get it, I get it Carla. Wendy's a special girl who isn't lik-"

"Hey Gray!" Gray couldn't finish his sentence as a new voice had called out to him, one that he hadn't expected to see in the area.

Gray turned around to see Carrie running right to him and Wendy watched as a girl she doesn't recognize come up to Gray. She smiled widely towards the ice mage once she got to his side, but it slightly faltered when she took notice of Wendy. She was feeling a sense of competition between her and the new girl, she could tell it in the other girl's eyes.

"Sup Gray, whatcha doing and who's this?" Carrie asked as the tension between the two young girls was beginning to build, all unnoticed by Gray although Carla was picking up a vibe here and there.

"I'm actually on my way towards you're parents cafe to talk with your dad and this is Wendy and Carla, they are my guild mates." Gray replied as Carrie gave a quick look over at Wendy and drew her attention back to Gray.

"What happened to the Titania? I thought you two were dat-" Gray immediately covered her mouth to avoid Wendy putting two and two together, it was already bad enough Carrie was going to make fun of him.

"She's back at the guild enjoying her morning, this is a bit more of a personal trip. Besides that, you should properly introduce yourself to Wendy and Carla like your parents tell you to do." Gray reprimanded her which Carrie replied with sticking her tongue out at him.

"Yes Nii-san, I'll introduce myself." Carrie said as she looked over at Wendy. "Hi my name's Carrie Cromwell and I so happen to be Gray's unofficial little sister!" Carrie knew that she needed to take the best counter measures right off the bat, things could get pretty intense if she didn't lay some ground work.

"My name's Wendy Marvell and this is Carla." Wendy wasn't happy to know that last bit of information, but she made sure she didn't outwardly express it. Although Gray was still on the subject of being called Carrie's older brother.

"Since when? You only called me that when you were five and I doubt you'd want to be calling Magnolia's known stripper your big brother." Gray argued in a joking manner as Carrie pouted at him, but Wendy was none amused and Carla could tell.

"I decided to make you my Nii-san, so deal with it. Plus all the other girls would be pretty jealous when they find out and I reap in the attention." She replied with stars in her eyes as Gray chuckled once again towards the brunette.

"So I'm just a tool for your rise in popularity then?" Gray questioned as Carrie laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her head.

"Of course not, I'll treat you just as I would if you really were my older brother." She said as Gray stopped and crossed his arm looking down at her.

"Basically the same way then, I doubt much would change." The young brunette ran right behind him and pushed him to go forwards, so they could at least make it the cafe before she ran out of things to say.

"No I would be nicer, now hurry up! There's still a bit to go before we make it back to my parents cafe." Once Gray had finally started walking again, Carrie stayed on his left with Wendy and Carla on his right.

The trio and cat all walked together towards Gray's destination making small talk with one another, although Wendy hardly spoke with Carrie. Those two exchanged small glares to each other when Gray wasn't looking and Carla couldn't believe the childish behavior happening right under the ice mage's nose. In all the years she's known Wendy this was something she hadn't seen her do before at all with anyone.

Luckily for Carla's sake this didn't last much longer as their point of destination was in sight and to Gray this was his chance to get even more help. Carrie ran ahead and held the door open for the mages as Alice took notice of the Fairy Tailers coming into her shop.

"Come for another visit Gray, I didn't think we'd see you here again so soon." Alice said as Gray walked closer to the register, Wendy following close behind him.

"Well I need to see Terrance if he's not too busy ." At the sound of his name, Terrance poked his head out of the kitchen door looking at Gray.

"Sure I've got time, it's been a bit of a slow day so I don't have orders piling up. Come on back here." Terrance said as he went back into the kitchen without another word.

"Alright Wendy, I just have to talk to him for a bit so go find a place to sit for now. I won't take long." Gray said as he pointed out an empty table for her and Carla to sit while he gets some things settled with Terrance.

"Okay Gray-san we'll wait." The dark bluenette replied as he made his way into the kitchen, but Carrie soon followed her towards the table.

"Now that it's just you, me and your cat Wendy, tell me how close are you to Gray." Carrie questioned as both mages were surprised by her interrogation.

"W-Why do you want to know?" Wendy was caught off guard, but she was ready to bounce back even if this centered around Gray for some reason.

"I want to know because there is only room for one little sister in Gray's life." Carrie may not have outwardly expressed it, but she enjoyed the fact of being a little sister to Gray.

"Child why argue for there only being room for one if both of you could be his pretend little sister." Carla spoke up in defense of Wendy, yet she didn't see that the young dragon slayer was preparing to say something. "Although I doubt Wendy would want to get much closer to the ice mage than what she already is, besides she is considered the little sister of the guild by that flirty spirit."

"Then by default I am his little sister. Here I thought that there was some competition, but I guess I was wrong." Carrie said with a satisfied smile on her face as Wendy leaned closer to retort.

"Now hold on Carrie. Even if Carla has spoken for me, I wouldn't mind getting to be considered Gray-san's little sister." Wendy knew this was an act of challenge, however this sudden surge of bravery surprised her.

"Are you actually considering on becoming that man's little sister Wendy?" Carla was baffled to know she was actually thinking this, the only people she has considered brothers were the other dragon slayers.

"Well yes I do, I believe that Gray-san and I have a sibling bond." Wendy knew Gray has spoken to her about many things that have happen and she goes for him for help. Underneath the guild's view, Gray had a soft spot for her and he looked after better than others would imagine.

"Fine, if you think you could be Gray's little sister then I'll let you have that fantasy. But don't start complaining when he chooses me over you." Carrie knew she was a person that doesn't mind sharing, but there are some things she holds very dear and Gray so happens to be one.

"We'll let Gray-san decide that" Wendy retorted as Carrie simply turned her head and walked away.

"What has gotten into you child!?" Carla couldn't understand why Wendy was behaving so differently, but somewhere deep down she hoped it had nothing to do with her vision.

"I don't know Carla, I just felt so bothered by her like at the drop of a hat. I just hope things don't get so out of control before there's a chance to fix this." She replied honestly, unsure where the sudden urge to go against Carrie came from when she had barely met her.

"Just hope you can discuss this with Gray soon, you two made it clear that he will choose." The white feline sat alongside her friend, crossing her arms in wait while the dragon slayer nervously played with her fingers.

* * *

During the argument between Carrie and Wendy, our ice mage had gone to the kitchen as told by Terrance as he sat on the stool his daughter was on the day before. He was Gray's next source for advice because he's the one that told him to see the truth and thanks to that the ravenette is now caught in a bind. Gray had also noticed that Alice had come along as well, but he didn't mind it and actually hoped she would voice her opinion as well.

"So what was it that you needed to talk to me about Gray?" Terrance asked as the young man made his way over to him.

"It's about yesterday, that thing you told me about seeing the truth that I was blind to before..."

"And?"

"Thanks to your advice I figured out what I was blind to and it threw me for a loop." Gray leaned on one of the counters, crossing his arms as he looked towards Terrance who donned a huge smile on his face.

"That-ta boy Gray! You finally realized your feelings, so tell me how it went." Terrance knew Gray would get it at some point and hearing it now made him feel great, knowing he had a hand in it.

"Geez old man, you're acting a lot like Mira or is this like one of 's soaps she's having you watch with her again?" Gray joked as an 'Ahem' came from behind him with Alice standing there having her usual smile on her face, but a glint in her eye told Gray otherwise.

"Now Gray be nice, besides Terrance has been watching those without me for some time now." Alice couldn't help it and enjoyed the shock face her husband made when his manly pride had been blemished by that fact.

"Alice!" He exclaimed, his face filled with embarrassment as Gray looked at him from the counter with an amused look. "I just got hooked on them okay, but were discussing your love life not what I watch on Lacrima Vision right now."

"That's right Gray, how did it go with the Great Fairy Queen?" Alice asked, but she got her answer when she noticed how uncomfortable Gray became and the slight pink tinge on his pale cheeks.

"W-Well, we walked for while back to her dorm and then we talked at one of our memorable spots, but things took a different turn by that point..." Even remembering the event was beginning to make him feel hot and bothered which wasn't a common thing for ice mages to feel.

"Come on don't leave us in suspense! Did it get really steamy between the two of you?" Terrance showed his interest very clearly while Alice only shook her head at her husband's immediate perverted thought.

"Nothing of that caliber happened if that's what you're thinking, but we did...um... share a kiss." He whispered that last part and both Cromwells had difficulty hearing what he said.

"Say again Gray, we didn't here you"

"I said we kissed alright!" Gray said even louder, although he questioned why he felt so awkward saying an act he's done so many times before.

Both Cromwells were, in short, were proud of Gray for making it to first base with Titania so fast, however this led to a small argument between him and them about it. Both sides made their points concerning why this was a major accomplishment versus the other times Gray's kissed someone, of course with Gray saying it wasn't something he hasn't done before. In the end he gave in to their words, since this time he accepted that this kiss meant a lot more than what he originally thought.

"I don't see the problem here Gray. Everything sounds fine to me." Terrance said as Gray sighed quietly to himself as he was barely going to explain to him why it is a problem.

"The problem is that because I found out that I've been actually liking Erza without knowing it, I can't decide between her and this other girl I like."

"Does she share similar feelings towards you?" Alice asked with the mindset that this girl may not reciprocate Gray's feelings.

"I thought she didn't for some time now, but just recently I was told that she did and this came from a reliable person." He replied remembering how Loke told him about Lucy's outburst on Juvia.

Now with that new set of information, the Cromwells could see Gray's dilemma and understand how confusing it must be for him since he's hardly shown so much romantic interest into anyone before. They went deep into thought on how he should go about this, but in the end it seemed he would have to hurt one of the girl's feelings.

"I'm sorry to say this Gray, but you're going to have to break one of their hearts. This is a hard choice to make and it comes down to which one of them has made the biggest difference in your life." Terrance said as Alice nodded in agreement, feeling a slight pang of guilt for telling Erza to go through with her feelings, but she knew it was the right thing to do for the mage.

"It's true honey, there's not much we can do about this, but our advice for you is choose the girl that'll make you the happiest." Alice said kindly as the ice mage smiled towards them before pushing himself off the counter.

"Thanks for the help, I'll do what I have to." Gray said as he made his way towards the door, but stopped to have his coat thrown at him by a smiling Terrance.

"That kid's really growing up." Terrance said as soon as Gray left the kitchen, leaving the couple alone. Alice walked around him and draped her arms over his shoulder where he sat, embracing him from behind.

"He sure is and I'm glad we're here to see it." Alice replied giggling alongside her husband, reminiscing on the years that have past.

* * *

The advice they gave him was in a way very similar to Wendy's, yet Gray was still worried about the possibilities that could occur once he chooses someone. There were plenty of choices he's had to make in his past and this one was marking itself as the hardest, where he could achieve great happiness although ruin a friendship with someone special.

Gray didn't want to deal with this early in the morning, he damned his emotions since this was something he had no idea of handling. He just hoped the afternoon comes soon so he could wash his worries away with a cold mug of beer, maybe then he'll have less worries to deal with.

"Good you're done talking to my parents, hurry up and follow me." Not one minute is Gray out of the kitchen before being pulled by Carrie to where Wendy and Carla are sitting.

"What's going on Carrie?" Gray questioned as the two stood at Wendy's table, whose eyes slightly widened when she realized what Carrie was about to do.

"What's going on is that I want you to pick which of us is going to be your sister." Carrie said with a satisfied expression on her face, although Gray was confused to what was happening.

"Are you telling me that Wendy wants to be my little sister, why?" He needed an answer because he didn't think Wendy looked up to him like that.

"The child believes that you two are as close as siblings and foolishly challenged Carrie that she would become your sister." Carla spoke up as Wendy looked away and blushed to her claim, which Carrie stifled a small giggle from escaping her lips.

"I don't see why you two want me for a brother, but if it makes you feel better I choose to have both of you as sisters." Gray replied although he was met with gasps from both girls until he was yet again dragged away by Carrie.

"What are you doing Gray?! You should've picked me automatically!" She whisper shouted to him, making sure to keep her voice low to ensure that Wendy can't hear them.

"I don't see the problem here squirt, why is it so bad to pick both of you?" He whispered back to humor her, even though he knows Wendy could hear them just fine with her super hearing.

"Because!"

"Because...?"

Carrie glared up at Gray for mocking her, until her eyes began watering and little pools of tears were visible at the corners of her eyes. Gray reeled back, completely caught off guard by Carrie's tears since he hardly ever saw her cry. He was starting to feel uncomfortable with her tears falling down her cheeks, so he carefully wiped them away with his hands. He sighed as she hiccuped silently, her eyes puffy from her tears and sat down at a nearby seat so he was eye level with her.

"Come on squirt, don't cry just tell me why this is bothering you so much." Gray said kindly, remembering how he spoke to the five year old he knew, before the time skip, when she cried.

"I-I don't w-want to lose my O-Onii-chan again." She hiccuped, as new tears slowly formed in her eyes again. She wiped them away immediately, realizing that the strong facade she had finally crumbled.

"What do you mean? I'm not going anywhere." Gray said as she shook her head in disagreement her eyes staring right into Gray's.

"You said the same thing seven years ago and I then I lost my Onii-chan" She bawled embracing Gray with all her strength, the ice mage once again didn't expect that to happen.

As he took into consideration of Carrie's words, Gray realized that a five year old losing her older brother was something she couldn't take well. He did act like one around her, even if he did it subconsciously, and her heart wouldn't want to go through the same pain again.

"T-That's why I wanted you t-to pick me because if you picked W-Wendy then I'd be losing you again." She bawled into his shirt, yet Gray was relieved that no one had taken notice of the commotion yet.

"Wendy's not going to take me away from you, I said both because I care for you guys equally. As if you two were my sisters. Everything's going to be fine, there's nothing for you to worry about." Gray said as he awkwardly hugged Carrie to calm her down. Comforting someone wasn't the best thing he was good at, but Gray believed he did a pretty decent job of it.

"O-Okay Onii-chan, I believe you" Carrie let go of Gray and wiped away any of her remaining tears as she settled her self down. Gray had taken noticed that Wendy was no longer at the table and new that she must have left sometime ago.

"Now go get your face cleaned up, you don't want to let the guys see you like this or me for that matter." Gray said trying to lift her spirits a bit more with success as she smiled at him.

"Shut up" Carrie replied jokingly as he waved good bye to her from the cafe's entrance.

Gray was prepared to go off and search for Wendy, but was surprised to see that she was leaning against a wall waiting for him. He walked up to her, but she merely started walking again with Carla in her arms. Gray knew there was an awkward tension between them and hoped it would be broken soon.

"Did you really mean that Gray-san?" Wendy asked, avoiding the will to look up at him.

"I did, you've helped me just as much as I've helped you. Not to mention that out of everyone you came to me to know a bit more about the guild when you were still new and I've told you about some of my experiences from old to modern." Gray said as they walked alongside each other, although Wendy felt worried about one experience he told her about after the games.

"So are you willing to take me as your little sister?" She wanted to know his answer,even if she over heard it earlier.

"So long as you're willing to take an ice mage alongside your dragon slayer brothers." Gray said as happy smile spread across her face and this time she did look up at Gray.

Carla was silent throughout their conversation, but was rather pleased by the outcome of all of this. She knew this sort of thing was childish, but the things that Wendy pointed out about Gray opened her eyes as to why she cared for him like a brother. From her did Carla discover Gray's sad past and the chilling fact Gray had told Wendy once the ordeal with the dragons was over.

The white feline looked up at Gray as he made small talk with Wendy, unsure of how she should go about this. _**"Had he really died during that one minute view into the future?"**_

Her thoughts were cut short when an all to familiar voice called out to the trio from above the skies. Happy landed near them, his green bag filled with fish, while a half eaten one was in his paws. He looked like a child in a candy store with all the fish he had and thanked Gray once again for giving him money to buy it.

"I've been looking for you guys for a while, but I took a small break to enjoy some fish since I couldn't find you." Happy said as he walked alongside the now walking Carla.

"Don't worry Happy, you didn't miss much and besides we're on our way back to the guild." Gray said as the walked past the now crowding commercial area with its multitude of shoppers and vendors lining the streets.

"I wonder what they've been up to since we left?" Wendy asked as the others nodded their head in agreement.

* * *

"There's no way I'm letting Gray get into your iron hands metal face!" Natsu shouted as a mass of knocked out guild mates were strewn across the floor around him.

"You can bark all you want Salamander, but the Stripper's gonna be in my hands by the end of this." Gajeel retorted as he knocked out the last member in his way.

"Only the manliest man gets to have Gray!" Elfman bellowed as he charged forwards into the fist fight between the dragon slayers.

"How in Mavis' name did this happen?" Lucy questioned as she hid underneath the bar counter accompanied by Levy, Lisanna, Kinana and Lily.

"If I remembered correctly, we were talking with Loke about a problem Gray was having until Gajeel provoked Natsu into a fight. Then it lead to something involving Gray which somehow brought more people into the fight and now here we are trying to avoid getting sucked in with the last of the fighters." Levy recapped as the sound of destroyed tables could be heard above them.

"I know this is a regular thing, but why is it that they got a bit more intense when Gray came up?" Kinana asked as the others kept silent, leaving her without an answer although she took it as if they were thinking of one.

"By the way, where's Erza and Mirajane?" Levy asked as the two beauties weren't with them and Erza has yet to have stopped the fighting.

"They're right over there." Lily says as he points out the two women butting heads with ominous auras around them.

"Tell me Mira, what did Elfman mean by what he said?" Erza asked in the most chilling way possible, one where even Natsu would rather hide in a vehicle for safety.

"It's really nothing of you're concern Erza, you should be more weary of Natsu and what he says." She replied in such a sweet tone that sent chills down a person's spine.

"It's fine by me, we are in fact in the same team. I assume you have your own as well, right?" Fearing for their lives, any member nearby these rivals slowly inched away taking the unconscious with them.

"Well it seems that there's no need to hide it anymore. I do believe it's high time we settled this civilly before we take things traditionally. Wouldn't you agree Erza?" That's the proof Erza was waiting on and now it seems that there's going to be a meeting between the battling factions.

"Yes I do, we should do this nice and clean before we make things messy." Immediately following that truce, the two beauties made their auras known stopping the fighting that was happening between Natsu, Gajeel and Elfman.

"I want this place cleaned up in five minutes or else you'll all receive punishment from me personally, understand?" Erza commanded as many of her guild mates stood up straight in fear and instantly started to get to work.

"What was that all about Erza?" Lucy asked as they went back to their original table, disregarding the burn marks all over it.

"We are going to meet our competition pretty soon, we'll try to do this in a civilized manner, but if it doesn't work we're going to have to do it Natsu's way." She replied keeping over watch as most of the guild was cleaned up with two minutes to spare.

"Meaning we'll fight until we win right?" Levy said as the red head nodded, however Lucy wasn't so sure that would end well at all.

 _ **"I just hope Gray's going to be okay when all this is over..."**_ Lucy thought as she watched alongside her team mates at the speed the guild was being cleaned up, however the looming threat of other rivals could be easily felt around them.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:** _Things have been getting slightly hectic for me, but I'm still going strong and I'll upload as often as I can. I don't have much to say this time around so review and enjoy the new chapter!_

* * *

Chapter 12

The guild had been cleaned up in record time, leaving Erza satisfied with the time improvement her guild mates had made. The multiple factions involved in the quest for Gray had all been informed about the specific meeting they were to have the next day, except there were a few who were threatened to not show up. Mainly from the dragon slayers, but Mira had her hand in it too with her sweet appearance shadowed by a terrifying aura.

Needless to say, everyone was told to keep quite about the brawl when Gray had returned alongside Wendy and the Exceeds. Natsu was by far the hardest to convince to keep his mouth shut, since he wanted to proclaim that he defended their relationship at all costs. Of course Erza wasn't hesitant to resolve this matter on her own and went about it with a small 'talk' with him. That little interaction left Natsu pale when he returned to their table and he was more than happy to agree with what Erza had to say.

Though the group was saddened when the ice mage merely waved at them before he went straight for the bar counter. Although it made a take over mage and a card mage very happy to see their target of affection going for them, but they didn't know that Gray wanted to kill some time before he could drink his problem away for the meantime.

It was difficult for Gray to sit at a table with three of his team mates he had conflicting thoughts over; Erza's confession and her kiss, the sickening kiss with Natsu and his secret (but not to her anymore) crush on Lucy. The little dragon slayer and the cats went to sit with them, completely unaware of the disappointed atmosphere that radiated off of the rest of Team Natsu and Levy.

"Man, why isn't the ice pop sitting with us?" Natsu complained to Wendy as she sat alongside Erza and Levy.

"I did what I could to help, but it seems that Gray-nii's problem is still bothering him." Wendy replied although everyone had caught on to the new honorific she gave to Gray.

"I'm sure you did your best Wendy, but I have a question for you. When did you begin to call Gray your brother?" Erza asked the now surprised tween who hadn't expected them to catch on so quick, leaving Carla to face palm at her naivety.

"W-Well I always thought as him as my brother as I do for Natsu-nii, b-but I didn't know if he'd approve." Wendy replied as this was partly true on her behalf, but finally came out thanks to Carrie.

"Really now? I'd understand why you would call either Natsu, Gajeel or even Laxus as brothers due to being dragon slayers, but I don't understand why you'd choose Gray as well." Levy spoke up as the small interrogation was coming down on the dark haired girl.

"Now, now no need to put Wendy on the spot you guys. Maybe she just looks up to him, just as much as she does to Natsu." Lucy spoke up in defense of the young girl who was grateful for the blonde's save.

"Yeah, me and the ice pop are great examples!" Natsu exclaimed, although everyone at the table knew better than to think those two would be great examples together in the same room.

"I see, but I'm sure there are others more suited for you to look for guidance Wendy." Erza said and luckily for her that seemed to end the subject about why she called Gray brother.

* * *

For the next couple of hours, things in Fairy Tail remained just like any other day but there was a tense atmosphere when one group would make eye contact with the other. Although Gray was glad to get through the morning and a good hour or two past the afternoon so he could get a nice cold glass of beer. He failed to realize that when he ordered his first drink that Cana had decided to make her way over to him, much to the dismay of the Phantom Team and Team E.L.L.N. who lost their opportunities at the same time.

"Judging by how fast you downed that one, I'd say you were waiting to drink for a while." Cana said jokingly as she sat down next him, her usual drinking quota unmet for the day, but an idea formed in her head to kill two birds with one stone.

"You have no idea Cana, right now I just want to unwind for a bit." Gray replied as Cana was internally jumping for joy when things looked to be going her way.

"If you want to ease up then why not have a little fun while your're at?" The bikini clad card mage said suggestively as Gray gave it a little thought.

"What do you have in mind?" Cana fist pumped to herself for successfully getting Gray to go for the bait, although she was still weary since he agreed somewhat easily.

"A drinking match between you and me!"

"...pass." Gray immediately shot her down and she retorted with her sad puppy eyes to him as she whined out "But why?"

"Because any time I play with you I'll end up losing, not to mention those bets we make are only for your entertainment" He crossed his arms as he called for Kinana to refill his empty mug.

"Fine I'll make it fair by testing who can finish their mugs the fastest, instead of who can drink the most." Cana offered while she still gave him her best puppy eyes and the ice mage's wall of sternness slowly melted away before he uncrossed his arms and sighed.

"Alright I'll play, but you've got to stop with those damn puppy eyes, you know I can't last when you do it." He replied as she cheered happily before calling over Kinana to fill up 30 booze filled mugs for each player.

"You know the rules Gray; finish a mug you slam it down and get the next. First to finish their 30 wins the game." Both mages reached for their first mug, Kinana acting as starting referee counting down from three.

"...Two...One...GO!" Like that both mages began to chug down their alcohol at impressive speeds, already going for their eighth glass in less than four minutes.

Obviously a crowd formed around the two as the empty glasses began to pile up and small bets were being placed to who would win, the obvious choice being Cana with a pretty good portion of Gray. Though the main battling factions were reluctant to see for themselves, unsure if their wanting for Gray would lead them to take advantage of the situation.

Cana and Gray were surprisingly neck and neck with their emptied mugs, much to the crowds excitement although not great for Cana's win streak. It wasn't that she was doing this on purpose or was any way slow when it came to her booze, but her mind continuously battled with winning the game or pouncing on Gray already. She felt fuzzy with him being so close and Cana knew that it wasn't the alcohol talking either, but more like an restrained urge that was ready to break free.

Cana had found it strange how deep she was being while drinking this much, but she couldn't help it and wondered to herself why she hasn't dated Gray before. She's known him for so long, hell he was the first kid besides herself to be in Fairy Tail after all. When they grew up, that same bond never left and yet she has dated so many guys in the past with nothing amounting to wanting to be with Gray. Even so, she believed it wouldn't be so bad to take a step further in their relationship.

"We're almost done Cana and it seems I'll be winning this for sure!" Gray exclaimed as she subconsciously continued to drink while she was busy with her retrospection, but Gray was in the lead by just a half-filled mug. _"Even if I win, you'll still be the reigning champ to me and no one could ever change that."_ The beautified Gray had snapped Cana right out of her thoughts and she got herself back into the game.

Both mages had continued to down their booze until the last one remained and though the match flew past them, the winning mug felt like time was going in slow motion. The cheers had slowed down, the bitterness of the alcohol was tasted much more in Cana's opinion and her movements felt so sluggish. The cheering crowd had silenced when the final sound of a mug slamming onto the bar counter was heard and everyone waited to see the final ruling.

Kinana looked carefully, amazed that it was actually this close but still raised the winning person's arm up. Hand up in winning glory, Cana smiled to her guild mates as she had won the match by a very thin margin for the first time and the cheers had started up once again. Though he lost, Gray gave her a thumb's up for winning and smiled up at her, however his hand was soon grabbed by Cana and she lead him to the rear entrance of the guild in a rush.

Cana expertly maneuvered the drunken Gray right outside towards the beach and made sure they weren't being followed by anyone. When it looked like the coast was clear, she led him to a small overlooking rock cliff on the shore that was nicely shaded by trees. A memorable place she shares with the ice mage, although she isn't sure he could even remember it now.

With a few more stumbling steps and the continuous drunken chuckle from Gray, Cana was able to have some alone time with him. She was actually happy that her little plan had actually worked in her favor and no one seemed to follow right after them.

"Hey Gray you feeling alright there?" She asked as he had gone quite all of the sudden, not one chuckle escaping his lips, but instead there was a peaceful smile there.

"I'm *hic* drunk, but right now I feel great *hic*" Came his reply as the two childhood friends sat next to each other in the shade, a peaceful atmosphere between the two.

"You're not alone then, I feel great with you near me." Cana slightly blushed as she said this, but compared with what she has done before this seemed very mild for her to do.

"Is *hic* that so?" Gray may have been drunk, but being friends with Cana and her type of training techniques to keep a slightly clearer mind when in a drunken daze made sure he was somewhat thinking clear enough.

"Yeah it is. You and I've grown up a lot Gray, but we hardly changed at all." She scooted closer to the mage feeling the nice cool air permeate her skin, cooling her even more from the heat besides the shade.

"I don't *hic* think that, you've changed t-*hic* the way you are" Gray said placing his hands down onto the rock's surface, hoping to balance his teeter tottering world.

"How so Gray? I still think I have one of the greatest bodies in the guild, not to mention I'm still the top drinker of our guild." She said her own drunken stupor beginning to come around now, but the hiccups hardly came up since she's learned how to avoid doing so.

"Not phy-*hic* physically you drunk, I meant by how you act. You used to be this slightly anxious girl *hic* who was always trying to tell Gildarts that she was his daughter." He replied looking back out onto the ocean enjoying the sea breeze that swept by them, his own connection to it coming up from the depths of his heart.

"Now you're this upstanding bad*hic*ass who will do everything to protect her guild and isn't afraid to do what's right and *hic* have some fun along the way." Cana blushed from his compliments, although to Gray he was saying the things that he truly thought about Cana.

"Wow Gray, now it's time for me to say that you're drunkenly babbling things." Cana joked as she scooted even closer to the mage, their arms already touching each other and the only thing left that she wanted to do was rest her head on his shoulder.

"I *hic* know what I'm saying Cana, if there's one thing I don't mind about b-booze is that it helps me say some things easier." Gray said looking down at Cana who had a small smile on her face as she looked up at him.

"Do you remember this place Gray?"

"Well duh, of course I remember. This use to be our favorite spot" Cana was happy he remembered, but wished he would go further than that though. "*hic* We had a lot of memories here."

"We sure did..." By this time Cana's beating heart was pounding away at her chest, her arm finally locking together with Gray's and his natural scent was slowly lulling her to sleep.

"Like the time you told me Gildarts was your dad, I couldn't believe that such a nice girl like you was the daughter of one of Fairy Tail's strongest mages." He smiled again thinking back to the many things that they told each other when they came to this spot.

So many years have passed since those days where their lives were filled with the ambitions of children who dreamed about the accomplishments f their dreams. Cana's story of trying to reveal to Gildarts that she came to the guild for him always had Gray backing her up to tell him, knowing that one day she would do it. With Gray, Cana was actually impressed to see that he was willing to do everything in his power to bring back his master and she looked up to his strength of trying to beat the impossible to help her overcome her fears of Gildarts rejecting her.

Even though Gray was never able to reverse the spell that took his master away and Cana hadn't been able to tell Gildarts who she was until the trials, the two still held a bond that was formed in that exact same spot they were in now. The card mage had also looked back at this and was happy to have Gray by her side, yet that lingering feeling of what she wanted Gray to remember nagged at her.

"Yeah, but I also remember this place being where we shared our first kiss." Cana said now saying out right what she wanted him to remember. At the same time achieving what she wanted to do earlier and laying her head on his shoulder as he slightly stiffened, feeling the additional weight resting on his arm.

"That's *hic* right, we shared our first kiss here..." Gray couldn't tell if he was blushing or not, but that memory was one he held in the back of his mind that hasn't seen the light of day in so long.

FLASHBACK

 _They were barely fourteen, Gray had gone to their usual spot to relax in the shining glow of the moonlight. Even if he was no where near a possible solution to saving Ur, he wouldn't give up so easily even though it began to stress him out every time he thought about it. He couldn't help it when his frustrated tears streamed down his face as he watched the ocean waves crash along the shore._

 _All the research he was doing, all the questions he's asked and all the work he was pushing his body through to achieve higher limits of his latent ability didn't get him anywhere close to discovering a way to get Ur back. He was living his life like she said to do, but the guilt for causing her to sacrifice herself was eating away at him and he couldn't take the toll of his failed attempts._

 _He pounded the rock he sat on to relieve himself of all the anger that had built inside of him due to all of his short comings, a task he started ever since his journey to the West. He punched it as hard as he could until blood slowly seeped through his knuckles, its stinging sensation acting as a relief to him until a voice called out to him._

 _"Gray what happened to your hand!" Cana rushed to his side and examined the bloody fist as he tried to wipe the remaining tears from his eyes._

 _"It doesn't concern you Cana, just leave me alone..." Gray said forcibly taking back his hand trying his hardest to avoid his voice breaking mid-way, but Cana wasn't having none of that and grabbed his hand again._

 _"It does concern me when someone I care about is going through this sort of pain." She quickly went for her new fuzzy pouch and took out a healing card, even if she was barely learning to use them it would at least heal his wounds. "I know you're trying your hardest Gray."_

 _"No Cana, it doesn't seem like I am. No matter what I do, I'll never be able to help her..." New tears threatened to escape as the pain of guilt stabbed at his heart cease to grow inside of him._

 _"You've got to understand Gray that you're not alone anymore, if this is bothering you so much then talk to us instead of bottling it all up." Cana retracted the card back as his hand was fully healed and she embraced the tear stricken mage._

 _"Please Gray, count on me too. You're too important for me to lose and this anger and guilt wouldn't be something your master wants for you and neither do I." She held the mage in her arms for some time before she felt a pair of awkward arms embrace her back and Cana snuggled into the ice mage's attempt of a hug._

 _"Thank you Cana..." He whispered into her ear, the aching of his heart no longer becoming the burden he had to carry alone. He's placed his trust in others, made friendships that have improved him, but he's glad that he has someone like Cana to comfort him._

 _Cana later released her tight hug on Gray and looked at him in the eye, her amethyst meeting his dark blue ones. She's cared for him as much as he has for her and slowly as those thoughts filled her young mind, Cana drew ever so nearer to Gray's face. Even if she was on top of things, as far as looking after her fellow guild mates that were older than her, Gray had this air about him that expressed how much he was willing to put on the line and it drew her to him._

 _He was different, he had his mind set on a goal that was near impossible to achieve from what he's told her, but he didn't give up so easily. She didn't know why, but his strength in determination was what she was looking for and Gray was willing to share it with her. Before she knew it, a cool pair of lips had met hers underneath the moonlight. It was a sweet kiss that had only lasted for a few seconds before she parted their lips and Gray remained star struck from what just happened._

 _Both young mages looked at each other blushing from one ear to the other, as they processed what had just transpired. Gray couldn't form any words for this was the first time he had ever kissed a girl and the same could be said for Cana as she just gave Gray her first kiss._

 _"D-Did we just k-kiss?" The young ice mage tried to break the awkward silence between them to the best of his abilities._

 _"Y-Yeah we did and it w-was my..."_

 _"First time? It was mine too." The raging storm of anger in his heart had passed and in its stay there was a simple feeling of peace and bliss as he looked back out onto the ocean waters that seemed much calmer now._

 _Gray felt a hand hold onto his, but didn't do anything about it and held it tight as he watched the waters with his dear friend. In the past weeks of gaining nothing but a worsening mood, Gray had actually felt comfortable with Cana at his side to help him keep on a steady path again. Alas, this little fairy tale didn't get it's happy ending and the two slowly lost the connection that attracted them to each other and in the end they had simply became the best of friends._

FLASHBACK END

"What ever happened that stopped us from being together?" Cana may have still been in her drunken stupor, but it was a question she was full aware of and wanted to ask.

"I don't really know. You just got a crush on Laxus and after a while we then drifted apart in a way." Gray replied his hiccups long gone, but his drunken blush remained on his pale face. "You then somehow moved onto Macao and began dating some random guys here and there."

"I guessed that happened, but why didn't I come around to ask you out or the other way around for that matter!?" Cana was still latched onto Gray's arm, her hold growing even stronger as her mind wanted answers to the questions she had.

"You said so yourself that you wouldn't want that." Gray's features had returned to his cool persona, either on his own power or subconsciously when he replied to her. Drunk as he may be, there were something's that were hard wired into his psyche like his stripping habit that led to his coat being on the rocky surface beside him.

"Why?" It came out as a whisper, the burning emotions inside her flared up into an inferno, discovering that she was the reason why they weren't together.

"Because if we were to become a couple and something were to come between us that we couldn't fix and it would lead us to break up, then you couldn't handle the fact of losing me forever." His features softened remembering those words that had pained his heart for a while. "The same could be said about me, I couldn't bear to think of being unable to talk to you again." Silent tears began to fall on Gray's bicep as Cana let them fall from her eyes, now understanding the true extent of their friendship.

As emotional and drunk as she was, Cana couldn't believe that they had thought through the possibility of being unable to even speak to each other again. She sealed her fate of being with Gray in order to keep the man she came to care about for years to come. For the person whose strength she shared to push herself to undergo those trials four times, but the pain of that realization hurt her as well. It was all for the sake of having him by her side later in life did she ever tell Gray that, just to only have it back fire on her in the future.

These mixed feelings had all been for naught for she closed off any chances with Gray years ago to protect one of the greatest friendships she's ever had, but now it wouldn't suffice. She wanted more, she knew she was being selfish but her heart was going out to the one person she knew who built an ice wall over his own to protect himself for the others' sake. Cana would rather damn her own precautions, just to have a chance to experience something she hasn't been able to in so long.

The card mage wanted to experience love again. She wanted to feel the true extent of a person's affection for another where one would vow to be with their significant other till death do they part. She wanted to feel that sense of happiness that she did after kissing Gray, the one where she whole heartily believed that she found the special person her mother talked about aside from her father. Now more than anything that Cana wanted was a do over with the first love she ever had; her first love with Gray Fullbuster.

"You know what Gray?" She asked wiping away her tears, a sense of determination swelling within her as the fires of passion seemed to burn stronger now with her new conviction to the future she wanted.

"Hmmm?" Came his reply as he turned to see the card mage resting on his shoulder, who now held onto him even tighter than before.

"Screw what I said all those years ago!" She exclaimed as she claimed his lips for her own and what a wonderful feeling she received when their lips met.

The kiss reminded her of the one they shared so long ago, his cool lips that now had the taste of alcohol on them, which counted as a bonus to her. His natural scent captivated her with its mountain air freshness, but there was a difference to this kiss than the one before.

They were no longer young teenagers entrapped with their ambitions for the future, since they managed to get past them in their own way. They had grown up into strong, prideful and great mages of Fairy Tail who protect their own and others. Finally, this time Cana is sure she will be with Gray and make her mother happy as she looks over her from the skies above.

Their lips parted as Cana buried herself into his chest, giggling like never before and it surprised Gray to hear laugh in such a way, but he found it pretty cute. Cana smiled up at him and finally understood that destiny may be mapped out, but she can find a way to change it. She stood up, bringing Gray along with her and decided that it was high time they went back inside the guild and get him something to sober up a little more.

Gray on the inside was finally coming around to what was happening and was internally panicking at the thought that not only did he receive a confession from Erza, but he just got one from Cana too. A long forgotten spark flared within him as he held onto Cana's guiding hand and he feared what it stood for. Had his feelings for her come back? Was he going to fall for this girl- no this woman- all over again?

His thoughts were cut short when a sword was thrown between the two as it stuck to the side of the guild building where the two were so close of reaching the door. Both mages turned to see none other than the Titania standing there with her arms crossed and and over bearing aura surrounding her. Cana shot a glare at her, while Gray wasn't so mentally ready to see her yet after what happened the night before.

"We've already discussed this Cana! There is a planned meeting tomorrow and I will not allow you to have a head start on any of us!" She shouted as Gray couldn't believe how angry Erza was becoming out of the blue.

"This is something between two old friends Scarlet, so don't butt in!" Cana wasn't backing down and the new rush of adrenaline had sobered her up enough to prepare for anything.

"Calm down Erza!" Gray shouted as got in front of Cana, trying to calm down the raging red head as best as his drunken mind could from doing any harm to the mage behind him. "I know you're better than resorting to violence Erza"

"Please step aside Gray, this is between me and Cana." Erza was feeling slightly disheartened when she witnessed Gray defending Cana, but knew that he'd protect anyone who was in the right even from his own guild mates.

"Not until you tell me what in the he-" Gray never got to finish his sentence as his world had turned black before him and the gasps from both girls was the last thing he heard.

Holding up Gray as best as she could, Mira smiled up to the two arguing mages who hadn't seen her coming. Mid-way through what Gray was saying did she appear behind him and delivered a swift neck chop to knock him out, catching him before he hit the ground. She was obviously happy to have the raven head be supported by her and came just in time before Gray learned too much about what was going on.

"Now ladies I know that we agreed to have a meeting about this, but be careful what you say with him around." Mira said as she began walking back inside with Erza and Cana following close behind her.

"Why did you do that Mira?" Cana asked resisting the urge to grab Gray from right under her.

"I made sure he doesn't learn what's going on or else things could get pretty nasty." She replied a blush forming on her face when she realized that she had an arm around his muscular torso. "Although we need to do something about Gray so our little meeting isn't interrupted by him on accident."

"Do you have anything in mind Mira?" Erza knew better than to trust the she demon with her Gray, but she didn't have any ideas on how to deal with Gray for the moment.

"I sure do, so don't worry your heads about it." Once she made it inside with Gray, Mira called over Elfman to take him back to the infirmary to rest up, but made a specific gesture to ensure he would come straight down right afterwards. "Now about Gray, he'll be out like a light for a few hours, so I need someone to look over him."

"I'll do it!" Came the simultaneous reply of both Erza and Cana who glared to one another right when they heard each other.

"Ara, ara someone's going to have to give in." Mira was having her own fun as these two were searching for the best possible way to beat the other. "Sorry girls, but I already had someone in mind. Lisanna!"

The youngest Strauss sibling made her way over to her sister, the requip mage and card mage deflated in defeat at not even getting the chance to be at Gray's side. They both knew Mira was pulling their legs from the start when she said that and vowed not to fall for it again.

"Yes Mira-nee?"

"Can you be a dear and look after Gray for a while please" Mira asked as Lisanna looked skeptic for a second before nodding and walking off towards the infirmary, leaving Mira with two pairs of glaring eyes.

"That's cold Mira" Cana said as Mira simply smiled at her before walking back to the bar and helping Kinana with orders.

"She has a point though, she picked someone who isn't interested in Gray to keep watch over him rather than someone like us." Erza said no longer angry and sighed as she watched the young white haired girl walk up the staircase.

"Y-Yeah, I guess that does make some sense." Cana knew all too well that wasn't the case and could only speculate why Mira would choose Lisanna to watch over him rather than herself. _**"Just what are you doing Mira? You're making this more complicated than it needs to be"**_


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** _I've come around to update, yay... I've been really busy with my college work lately so it drove most of my focus there and I had a small case of writers block too :P, but I've finally got this chapter done. I'll try to update as fast as I can so I can bring you more EP and AIM, by the way this is a pretty long chapter just for you guys as a sorry. Now with that out of the way please review and enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 13

Gray groggily sat himself up as he finally woke up again after he blacked out behind the guild, which drove him to question how he got himself into an infirmary bed. He looked around to see everything was just fine save for the quiet snoring he heard right next to him, which surprised him to see who it was. Sleeping at his side with her arms crossed under her head was Lisanna and Gray was confused thinking that Cana would be there beside him. He thought back to what happened before and slowly became warm in his face as he remembered Cana kissing him, telling him to forget what she said all those years ago.

Not long into his recounting did Lisanna begin to stir bringing Gray right back to the present as she scratched her eyes like a young child would do after a nap. It took a little for her eyes to focus again before she saw Gray fully awake and sitting up, looking at her questioningly.

"Well hey Lisanna, didn't expect to see you here." Gray said, a little unsure how to talk to her since he rarely got the chance to speak with her alone.

"Hi Gray, sorry if I woke you up in any way." She apologized realizing that her snoring might of woken him up and a small tinge of red appeared from her embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it's okay." He said, pausing a bit to get his thoughts together. "Do you know how I got here?" He asked since it was the obvious question he had on his mind.

"Mira-nee told me that you passed out outside the guild hall and got Elf-nii to bring you up here." The animal soul mage explained as the ravenette processed this information, but the next question had put Lisanna to the test.

"What happened to Erza and Cana? They were pretty mad about something, but I can't remember what it was." Gray did remember the look of anger Erza had when she was yelling at Cana, but it had to do with something that kept escaping him.

"T-They um... had a small disagreement on rum cheesecake is all." This was a blatant lie that Lisanna had made on the spot, but the young Strauss couldn't be a great liar for the life of her. It's just something she couldn't do, but her sister was counting on her to try so she'll give it her best shot.

"Rum cheesecake?" Gray has heard of the multitude of cheesecake flavors from Erza and rum cheesecake was one he had never heard of.

"It's like regular cheesecake, but one ingredient is rum, so it's like an alcohol mixed cheesecake." She had to pull all the stops of her imagination so this lie could be believable, she internally wondered how other people could do it so easily.

"They were arguing over that?" Gray would've thought it weird for them to be nearly fighting each other over it, but gave it some more thought and saw that it was likely they would fight for it. "Actually never mind; Erza loves her cheesecake and Cana loves her booze so it does make sense."

"It does?...I mean, yes it does, so that's why they were arguing." Lisanna laughed nervously as she couldn't believe how difficult it was to talk to the ice mage.

"Well if that's the case, then why are you here?" He sounded straight forward at that point and blamed it on the lack of talking with her, especially if it came to a one on one.

"I uhh...well I was asked to look after you by Mira-nee, you know...just in case something happened while you were asleep." In truth she was having a hard time speaking with this Gray since she was so used to the love struck Gray Surge back in Edolas, but she hoped that this Gray was like him too. Not the Juvia wanting part, but the nice and caring part of him.

"Well thanks for looking out for me Lisanna." He replied getting out of the bed, ready to get back downstairs until he looked out the window. He had noticed that the sun was pretty low compared to the last time he was awake. "How long was I out?"

"About three hours give or take." Lisanna replied as Gray couldn't believe he was out for that long, but then again he hardly remembers anything about the previous night before he blacks out when playing with Cana.

"The day's already gone, guess I could head home now. Better than getting into another game after the last one." Gray said as he picked his coat up off a chair nearby ready to leave, but Lisanna tapped on his shoulder before he left the room.

"C-Can I ask for a favor from you?" Lisanna wasn't that shy when it came to her guild mates, but this Gray can be as intimidating as Gajeel and Laxus at times. Plus he had somehow got her heart ready to leap out of her chest just by looking at her.

"Sure why not?"

"Can you c-come on a request with me?" This was the moment, Mira had given her specific instructions to get Gray to tag along on a mission so the meeting could be conducted. This could be very awkward since they hardly talk to each other, but she wouldn't hesitate to try and start a conversation.

"I won't mind going, but why me?" Gray was willing to go sure enough, but he didn't understand why she'd pick him as a partner instead of someone that she's already used to.

"You see I've asked around, but everyone's really busy lately. Natsu has something planned with Happy, Elf-nii's got to help Mira-nee with a delivery coming in and most of the others are taking a small break from going out on requests for some reason." Of course this was rehearsed when Mira came into the room with her, but it would be enough to work on Gray, maybe.

"Then what about any of the girls? Couldn't you go with one of them?" Gray hardly turns his back on his comrades, but he just didn't want her to feel uncomfortable with him around.

"Are you trying to avoid going with me Gray?" Lisanna was quick on the uptake and Gray had to give her that, she had eyes that could see through you easily just like her sister's and he hoped that she wouldn't become just like her too.

"N-No, I'm not trying to avoid you Lisanna, it's just that I think you'd do better with someone you're more comfortable with." Gray explained the very thought he had about this and waited for the white haired girl's reply.

"Thanks for thinking about what would be good for me Gray." Lisanna had now put more faith in her idea that Gray was sort of like Surge in a way, hopefully there's still more of that to come. "Also to answer your last question, I can't because this requires one male and one female mage to...um...portray a couple."

"Oh..." That helps clear everything up for him, but Gray was still unsure if he should do this and knew someone else that was suited for this position. Then again that person would just wreck everything in sight so he was a no go.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. We only need to be that for the main celebration and we'll learn more once we make it to the town." Lisanna was hoping for a yes and at the same time he heart yearned for a yes. Though there was still a part of her that wanted a certain pink haired slayer to take the position instead.

Gray gave it some thought, there were both cons and pros to this 'portraying as a couple' request with Lisanna. The cons were that the awkward silence between the two during their trip there would kill him, along with during the request, pegged as the next unexpected couple in Sorcerer's Magazine and have Mira hounding on him to get with Lisanna or stay away from her.

That Mira bit sure as hell scared him, but the pros to the request would be getting away from the guild, no need to come across his team for a bit and to a better note he didn't have to over think everything he was doing around either Cana, Erza and Lucy. He knew that some of the cons scared the shit out of him, but getting some time away from his little problem was much more worth it. _ **"A request would do me some good"**_

"Alright I'll come with you Lisanna." Gray gave a small smirk as she let a breath of relief out, one that she didn't know she was holding back.

"That's great to hear Gray, meet me by Magnolia station tomorrow so we could get going." Lisanna was glad that Mira's plan had worked and he saw him give a small wave of goodbye to her as he exited the infirmary.

* * *

Back at the guild's main floor things haven't improved much, atmospherically wise, as the air around everyone was thick enough to cut with a knife. Things had returned to normal after everyone watched Gray get carried away to the infirmary, but the small glares between the main groups fighting for him had created a choking atmosphere.

Team E.L.L.N. kept an eye on Mira, while she had her team keep an eye on them and the Phantom Team. As for Phantom Team, Gajeel had his ways of working a network of guild mates to watch both teams' movements, however Juvia kept her stare concentrated to the biggest threat of them all. Lucy.

Said blonde was getting both irritated and self-conscious about the strong glare she was receiving from Juvia. Things had taken a pretty rash turn when she said all those things, but Lucy knew that the time for apologies was over and she wasn't going to back down. She'd expressed how tired she was of being accused for liking him even before she did, however her claims of not liking him turned to lies as she slowly started seeing the ice mage in a new light. Even so, Lucy couldn't necessarily blame anyone for slowly falling for the ice mage because that happened after so much time had passed Between them. Along with her wanting to break free of just having a strong friendship with him.

 _ **"How was I ever the first to be accused of loving Gray?"**_ The celestial mage thought to herself, remembering how even back when she was getting to know Juvia that the water mage had this mind set of her being a major problem.

"What do you think Lucy?" Levy asked as the blonde barely returned to the conversation here team was having, although she missed over half of what they were saying.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?"

"Erza said that this meeting that's been planned out may be a good idea, but the problem is what will happen if we settle all of our differences. Natsu and I agreed that it could be troublesome if the odds are stacked against us and we asked you for your opinion." Levy recapped as the blonde gave the situation a deeper thought as she too saw a few problems that could come of this.

"Yeah you're right, the whole thing can get out of our favor if we're not careful." Lucy could see how difficult it could be to have some alone time with Gray if everyone didn't settle this right. Although during her musings she had noticed that the youngest dragon slayer wasn't with them. "Where's Wendy you guys?"

"She left a while ago to hang out with Romeo. Lucky for us so we can talk about this without getting Wendy involved. " Levy replied and Erza was about to add to her comment when Natsu jumped up in joy as he saw his target of affection.

"Oi ice princess get over here!" Natsu called out as Gray turned to look at them before he made his way over.

Needless to say Erza was beginning to feel giddish as he came closer, Lucy's heart began to beat faster and Levy was trying her best not to stare so hard at him. Then there's Natsu's happy-go-lucky self that wouldn't mind tackling the ravenette once he got close enough just to have him in his arms. As for Gray, he simply wanted to say his good byes for the night and head home to avoid any awkward moments between him and Erza.

"You haven't been with the team for a while today." Natsu added as the mage stood by at their table, even though the girls had made space for him to sit.

"I've been busy, but I'm already heading home for today. I swung by to tell you guys goodbye." Gray replied looking at the guild doors, although he was caught off guard when he was answered by a simultaneous "Why?"

"It felt like you just got here, we haven't seen you all day snowman" Natsu was starting to feel his heart ache as the mage just turned his head at him and focused else where.

"He's right Gray, you need to communicate with your team." Erza spoke up, hoping that her voice didn't sound the way it does when she's in a cheesecake shop.

"Sorry guys, like I've said I've been busy and I'm going home because I've got a request to do tomorrow." Judging by the stare he was getting from everyone, Gray knew he had to explain at least a part of it.

"It's a two person, body guard request for a celebration tomorrow night." Even after he explained it, Gray still got expected stares and didn't know what they wanted from him. "What?"

"Who are you taking on this request Gray?" Erza asked as the others all nodded their heads in agreement which the ice mage had no idea they could be all in sync like that.

"A-Actually I've been asked to be the partner on this one." The entire table immediately froze and wondered who had asked their Gray to go on a request with them.

"Who asked you Gray?" Levy asked as the mage in question was surprised that she wanted to know.

"It was Lisanna, anyways I'd better get going." Gray waved his hand, but was grabbed by none other than Natsu who held onto it with a strong grip.

"Then let me walk with you ice boxers." Gray yanked his hand out of his grip and was surprised that Natsu had a look of hurt across his features after he did that.

"Sorry fire freak, not going to happen. I'm happy with my privacy and I don't need you showing up to my house out of nowhere." He said as Erza took this time to stand next to the ravenette, which got his heart beating faster as she placed her gauntlet hand on his shoulder.

"Now Gray we all must be fair. We've all visited Natsu's home before, we occasionally go spend time in Lucy's home and now it's your turn to let us visit your home." Erza had made a point about it, but he was still skeptical about giving an answer.

He could say no to them, but Erza would still tag along on his way home and receive so many glares he'd have to sleep with one eye open for a while. On the other hand, he could say yes and have them only visit once and not come back since they're most likely going to Lucy's house more often than not. Either way they all would know where he'd live and his personal home of solitude would now be public to the guild. With a bothered sigh, Gray made up his mind and hoped it wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass later.

"Fine you guys can come, but make sure you tell no one where I live, okay? I like to have my privacy." With agreeing nods Team E.L.L.N. followed Gray out of the guild hall and onto the streets leading towards his home.

* * *

The walk had lasted for a while, the scenery changing from large apartment homes and shops to single floor homes and the occasional town home. The team had realized how significantly quieter the neighborhood was compared to the main center around the guild and Lucy's home. They enjoyed the quiet environment until Gray made a sharp turn and was making his way up to a two story house.

It had a bricked walkway leading straight towards the door, trimmed grass on either side with another path leading towards a small garage attached to the main house. Interestingly enough for Team E.L.L.N. they did not see one piece of Gray's abandoned clothing anywhere on the lawn, which disappointed a few of them who were hoping to take a souvenir with them after their visit.

Once at the doorway and Gray had unlocked it, Lucy was the first to barge right past him and enter his home. She was soon followed by everyone else and Gray had the slightest notion that Lucy slightly enjoyed barging into some else's home for a change. With yet another tired sigh he walked inside himself and closed the door behind him, only to be caught with the sight of everyone just standing in his living room.

They all took in the entire view, Gray had a well furbished home like any other home however it was still different in a way. It actually reminded both Lucy and Levy of one of those homes you tend to see in magazine catalogs, and to their amusement the ice mage even had a fire place in the center wall of his living room. Although that didn't stop the small romantic day dreams the whole group had, except for Natsu who simply thought of eating all the flames it would have if it were ever lit.

"There, you guys have now been in my house, so could you please go home now?" Gray didn't want to kick them out, but he had a request to go to in the morning and wanted to at least have some peace and quite before he went to bed.

"Aw c'mon Gray could you at least give us a tour of your home?" Lucy asked attempting her puppy dog eyes on him, a trick Cana told her about a while ago that usually works on him.

Gray gave it moment to think it over and would've said no even if she was doing the eyes, but now that he likes her it was pretty difficult for him to say it out right. It didn't help it either that Erza stood nearby her in a waiting stance that he knew meant it was going down her way no matter what.

"Alright I'll give you a tour..." They all followed him out of that room and down his hallway, but what caught Erza's interest was the bare walls.

They were painted dark blue, a color she knew Gray liked, but they felt empty due to the fact that he didn't seem to have any photos on his walls save for some artworks here and there. It bothered her for some reason, as if Gray's home signifies him in a way; almost empty and secluded.

"What's bothering you Erza? You seem troubled." Levy lagged back so she was walking alongside Erza, while the others walked ahead, wondering what seemed to be going on in the red head's mind.

"It's really nothing Levy, just had a strange feeling is all. We should hurry, Gray looks like he's waiting on us." Erza replied as they caught up to Natsu, Lucy and Happy.

"When did you get here Happy?" Natsu asked as he realized his blue best friend was walking alongside him.

"You're mean Natsu, I was here the whole time!" Happy cried anime tears as he flew off into a random room they past not too long ago.

"Be careful in there!" Gray yelled to the retreating blue cat as he closed the door, now leaving the group wondering what was in there. "It's just a storage room, but I like to keep things clean and in order."

Gray showed the group around, walking past his personal bar counter in a den he had near the back, his medium sized kitchen that he made sure Erza kept Natsu under wraps so he wouldn't eat anything when he wasn't looking, followed by his personal library filled with the books Levy heard him buy over the past years from Micheal. He had also shown the upstairs of his home as well, however he made it clear that nobody was allowed into his room and finally ended it by leading them outside onto his balcony under the stars above.

"I've shown you guys around my whole house, now if you...where's Natsu?" Gray could already feel the mess in his kitchen that he was going to clean up, but when he went to check for him the dragon slayer wasn't there.

"We'll help you look for him." Erza said as she turned to the other two mages behind them, "Alright, we'll split up and search for him. Gray's home isn't so big, so that helps us in finding him."

The girls and Gray all went to search for the missing dragon slayer, but when he went off on his own the girls all had a quick agreement that no one was allowed to be alone with the ice mage. As for Gray, he still felt uneasy having the two girls he's having an intimate reaction with in his home along with a destructive dragon slayer as well. As for Levy, he was just glad that there was someone he could at least not fret over. For the moment he'd keep his focus on finding that pink haired idiot of a team mate that was missing somewhere in his house.

"He's around here somewhere, I know it." Gray had went back upstairs to continue his search when he remembered that Happy had gone into a room and hasn't been seen yet.

As quickly as he could he rushed towards the room, hoping that he was wrong and those two morons hadn't torn apart that room. He opened the door hastily to see a surprising sight in front of him, one he hadn't expected at all.

Almost everything was still in it's right place, nothing wrecked or destroyed with just a few boxes opened here and there and as for Natsu, that surprised Gray the most. The dragon slayer sat on the floor looking at one particular box, awe struck in his own world while Happy for some reason was knocked out right next to him. He walked up to him, sighing with annoyance that the pink idiot had gone through his stuff and clamped a hand on his shoulder.

Natsu jumped up to his feet and turned so fast that Gray wondered how he didn't suffer from whiplash and guarded himself until he realized it was just Gray. He dropped his stance and suddenly became self-conscience as the ice mage kept staring at him.

"Dude what in the hell are you doing and what happened to Happy?" Gray question as he stepped forward, but Natsu unconsciously stepped back from him.

"W-What's up with the stuff inside the box droopy eyes?" Natsu replied with a question and Gray didn't understand what he was getting at until he checked the box himself.

Inside were a number of old requests. photos and items dating back to the first few months of Natsu's joining of the guild and Gray was feeling a little irked that the flame eater found that box out of all of them in the room. He closed the distance between them and gripped on the sides of his vest, glaring at him as hard as he could. Natsu on the other hand was feeling quite giddish now that the ice mage was holding him.

"You better make sure this gets through your thick skull flame breath," Gray was trying to pick his words accordingly, knowing that Natsu could ruin his rep easily if this caught wind in the guild. "What I'm about to tell is to be kept quiet, understand? If you tell anyone then we're going to have a problem on out hands _...maybe I'll even try to forget about you too."_

"Don't worry your secret is safe with me and Happy when he wakes up!" Natsu was worried to what may happen and knew that Gray would easily follow through with whatever he says. With that, Gray let go of his vest and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This room...it's a place where I hold all the memories I've made with the people I've come across and cared for." Gray said in a calmer tone, picking up and placing some of the boxes that were lain misplaced about the room.

"So this room's like a giant scrapbook or something?" Natsu couldn't believe that Gray was doing something like this and he felt very warm inside knowing that Gray had a box full of memories they've made together.

"Yeah something like that, but this is something I use to remember those who've come and gone or for later on in life when I want to think back." Gray had an invisible smile as he continued to place the final boxes onto their shelves or space.

"Didn't think you'd have something like this, but don't worry we'll keep this to ourselves." Natsu replied with his signature grin as the sound of his own beating heart grew even louder in his ears as he watched the ice mage."Still I didn't know you had one for me."

"Even though I can't stand you most of the time, you're still my nakama after all." Gray replied as Natsu grew even more fuzzy inside, the strange sensation wanting to draw him closer to Gray like never before.

"I've been meaning to ask again, but what happened to Happy?" Gray was curious to know why the blue cat was knocked out beside the dragon slayer.

"O-Oh he was looking through some of these boxes when I came in and I just came up behind him and scared him. He jumped pretty high and hit his head on a shelf pretty hard." Natsu explained as he watched the mage walk closer, his raging heart trying to reach for the target of affection who was so close he could feel the cold aura.

"Huh, didn't expect Happy to be that scared from just a jump sca-" Gray couldn't finish his sentence as he was tackled to the ground by the dragon slayer right out of the blue.

"I don't want to let you go Gray..." Natsu said in a low tone as the ice mage continued to struggle in the bear hug he was caught in.

"Oi you flame eating moron, if you want to fight me so bad than lets settle this outside and not in here!" Gray hadn't expected to be tackled inside his own home, but nonetheless he wouldn't lose to the dragon slayer.

"What the hell did you do to me?" Natsu ignored Gray's claim and made his grip on him even tighter as the ice mage tried to pry him off.

"What in the hell are you talking about?!" Gray questioned applying even more strength to get Natsu's arms off him.

"Everything was fine until yesterday and it was all because of you and now I can't get you out of my head." The pink haired teen continued on without acknowledging the ice mage's words at all.

"Oi flame brain, what do think you're doing?" His grip was getting even tighter and Gray couldn't tell if his words were even reaching Natsu, but he'd be damned if he was about to quit now.

"I asked Lucy and then I got an answer from Loke, telling me what's been happening to me and now I know." He drew closer to the mage, while Gray could feel Natsu's hot breath on his neck as he moved his mouth towards his ear. "I like you Gray."

Gray's mind stopped all other activity once he heard what Natsu said was beyond any form of comeback, how do you even come back to a confession? Did Natsu really confess to him and why in all things him? This wasn't at all what he expected and Gray continued to struggle to break away from his grip.

"You took my first kiss and I really liked it, I can't stop thinking about it and I've been wondering if it will feel the same a second time?" Gray was thinking that this was all a prank and Natsu was toying with him, until he saw his face.

Natsu's eyes held a look of longing, a noticeable pink blush that rivaled his own hair was on his cheeks and the slayer was trying his hardest to avoid eye contact. Gray was actually shocked that Natsu was being genuine with his confession, that he liked him in that way. Gray's head was filled with so many questions, but they were put on hold when he realized what Natsu was doing.

He was gazing into the ice mage's dark blue eyes, looking for something that the mage had no idea what it could be as he drew his face closer to his. Was Natsu planning on kissing him again!? The first time was by accident, but this time he was doing it willingly and his grip wasn't letting up. Gray used all his might to squirm out of Natsu's grip but the teen held on tight like never before, then he swiftly pinned one of Gray's hands with his own. This wasn't right, something was going on with Natsu...he couldn't like him of all people, right?

Pushing everything he had, Gray managed to free his hand and shoved Natsu right off of him, getting back onto his feet and taking a guarded stance. Natsu seemed to comeback to reality when he realized what had just happened, but Gray wasn't going to let his guard down so easily yet.

"The hell is wrong with you?!" Gray was careful of Natsu's movements, wondering if the mage would pounce on him again if he wasn't careful.

"I don't know what happened to me Gray!" Natsu was worried now about the actions he had just done, what possessed him to go to that length? Was he truly wanting Gray so bad it left him with the only option of tackling him and having his way?

"I don't know what you're trying to pull here, fire eater, but I won't let this go any further! _...I thought we could have something special, I guess I was wrong."_ Natsu was beyond stricken when he heard that from Gray. Was this truly the end before they even had a beginning?

"W-Wait Gray, I'm sorry I didn't know what came over me! Let me exp-"

"I think it's time you should leave, I need my space...now!" Gray was more confused than he was angry with Natsu, still trying to process the fact that Natsu was actually trying to forcefully kiss him.

"Look Gray, it wasn't on purpose, I swear! Please you got to let me expl-" Once again the dragon slayer was interrupted and his heart was aching to what the consequences his actions had left onto him.

"I said leave Natsu!"

Natsu felt hurt, more over he felt angry but with himself and not Gray. He messed up royally and now he was paying for it, he had ruined a great moment between them and his heart yearned for the forgiveness of the ice mage. The man with a frozen heart who wouldn't show mercy to those who hurt him or his guild mates. He quickly rushed to grab Happy and made his way towards the door, stopping in the frame to look back at Gray. Said mage had his back to him with arms crossed and Natsu, though dense he may be at times, knew that Gray was upset and wanted nothing more to do with him tonight.

"Again Gray, I'm really sorry..." Like that, Natsu closed the door behind him and quickly made his way out of the Fullbuster residence.

Gray sighed, for who knows what time today, and continued to finish putting away the last of the boxes; Natsu's being the very last one. With everything back in it's place he gave the room a look over before leaving only to bump right into something hard and metallic. Gray wasn't expecting to bump right into her of all times and wasn't ready to deal with another encounter so soon.

"There you are Gray, I came to tell you I found Natsu, but he seemed to be in a rush and left already." Erza said as she witnessed how he tensed a little when she mentioned his name, but let it go as her eyes caught the look of a troubled man from the way Gray's face seemed to look.

"Yeah I know, he told me he had something to do and grabbed Happy." Gray replied feeling really awkward around one of his old childhood friends, a small moment of awkward silence passed between the two until Erza spoke again.

"L-Look Gray, you and I need to talk about...well us." Erza knew that she shouldn't discuss this matter...not yet anyways. However, she couldn't stand feeling this strong want for an answer from Gray, one that could bring her great happiness or utter sadness.

"What do you want to talk about?" Gray was trying his hardest not to appear panicked, this was his first time having feelings for someone else that run this deep and it bothered him that it extended to not one, but three people in total.

"I h-have spoken my true feelings towards you G-Gray. You are someone I don't think I'll be able to live without and in a major way, you changed me for the better. I w-wish to know what are your feelings about m-me." Erza may have only confessed to him just last night, but her mind was now carrying the weight of the hidden love for her friend after the past ten years (seventeen counting the time skip).

Gray knew where this was leading to and he didn't want to answer for lack of truly explaining himself, but how could he say no when Erza was blushing like a school girl in front of her crush. If there was one thing he envied about other people or even Juvia for that matter is that they could express how they felt so easily without reserves, something he couldn't do after what happened to him.

"Erza...you well, you mean a lot to me. I just...I um, don't really know how-" Gray was hushed by a finger placed onto his lips, Erza smiling up to him kindly with understanding eyes.

"I understand Gray, I know it's a little too much of me to ask you to express your feelings. That's something you haven't been able to do, but no matter what happens I'll be waiting for your answer." Erza knew how Gray had the greatest trouble when it came to his feelings and understood that this was something that would take time, but she could wait. After all, she was in love with him for so many years without knowing it, what's a little more time going to do?

"Thanks Erza"

"No problem Gray, by the way, could you tell the girls it's about time for us to go home?" Erza said giving Gray a quick peck on his cheek as she walked back downstairs to wait for Lucy and Levy in the living room.

Erza knew that she needed to be fair with the girls and for those at the meeting tomorrow, but this was something that seemed special between her and Gray. Besides there are two tough rivals in this race and one has a higher capability to steal Gray for herself, for this is now a battle between her old rival and another one of his closest childhood friends.

* * *

Gray had a pretty good idea where Levy would be, obviously looking into his personal library and seeing what books he had and as for Lucy, he wasn't too sure where she would be. Nonetheless he set out to tell Levy that it was time for them to get a move on, of course on Erza's orders. He just wondered what she thought of it, honestly he's read each book more than once and learned a few of the writing styles, but they are still entertaining to read. Surprisingly enough, he was expecting some sort of criticism for having not updated his library recently or something of the sort.

Levy on the other hand was enjoying the various titles she was seeing, they ranged from obscure authors she hasn't heard of to much more classic ones that she absolutely loved. It was exactly like Micheal had told her about when he had widened his reading field, but what surprised her was that a large section of one of the room's walls was purely made of ice magic books. His library, though simply a very large room, housed more books than her own room and not to mention that they were so neatly stored with the small stack of books here and there.

"If boys could be at Fairy Hills, I would've asked Gray to help clean up my room." Levy said to herself as she continued to walk through the room, although a desk had caught her interest that was facing a nearby window.

The desk had a great view from the window, over looking the rest of the calm neighborhood and the landscape surrounding the back of his home, but what drew her more was what was on the desk. There was a book, the same book Micheal spoke about; Passion Beneath the Moonlight, the same book that left Gray a blushing mess.

 _ **"So Gray actually kept it,huh."**_

Levy continued to look at what's on the the desk and besides a few drawn sheets of paper there were picture frames, actual pictures of people rather than the usual paintings in his house; one had a younger version of him around his early teens next to a family with bright smiles on their faces and another one with him, Micheal and Micheal's father. The second one she had seen, was the picture of a beautiful woman with short dark hair and a kind smile that had two more small pictures next to it. These had a picture of the woman she recognized as Ultear and the other small one was that of both a young version and older version of Lyon, as for the last one it struck her as quite interesting.

It was a slightly charred photo of a couple; another beautiful woman with long raven hair who wore a very familiar cross necklace and a man who looked a lot like Gray only older with matching hanging cross earrings. Levy deduced it to be his parents, however she was confused as to why it was charred. She was reaching out for it until a hand clamped down on her shoulder, eliciting a squeal of fright from her.

"Whoa Levy, I didn't think you'd scare so easily." Gray felt slightly better as he chuckled at Levy's reaction, while she puffed her cheeks in annoyance.

"Geez Gray, are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" She said as she lightly punched on his arm, which surprised her for being so playful with Gray.

"Sorry, sorry I'll try to scare you less intensely next time." He laughed a bit more before he settled himself down and noticed what Levy had been looking at, a look of uncertainty had ghost his face before disappearing into a neutral look.

"So did you find Natsu yet, I heard a scuffle coming from another room." Levy asked as she moved on towards another shelf leaving Gray at his desk.

"Y-Yeah I did, he already went home plus Erza asked for you to meet her downstairs, saying that it's about time to go home." He replied, yet he didn't move his gaze from the pictures on his desk.

"Guess I should meet her before she gets angry." Levy joked as she looked back at him although he looked to be in his own world, but the look in his eyes told her it wasn't that happy of a place.

She walked behind him and nervously placed a hand on his shoulder; they may not talk to each other much but he was still her guild mate. Levy's always seen a smirk or a cocky like attitude from the mage, but to see him so melancholy wasn't something she expected. The difference between the types of attitudes he has showed Levy how little she knew about the mage, even after being in the same guild as him for all these years.

"Hey Gray, you all right?" Levy was concerned for him and the cold aura around him was cooling her over heating face which helped her keep her cool.

"I'm fine Levy, sorry for holding you back." Gray came back around and realized that he left "that" book on his desk which he hoped Levy wouldn't say anything about.

"No problem Gray, but I was wondering why you still have that book Micheal's father gave you?" Levy had a mischievous look and Gray knew it was too much to hope that she would leave things be.

"Alright what do I have to do to make sure you won't say a word to him, as far as he knows this book isn't in my possession, but in his father's." That was an old tale he told to Micheal during the week he was upset after what happened.

"Now Gray I didn't think you'd resort to bribery so fast, but if you insist then I'll humor you." Being very playful with people wasn't something she normally did, but for some reason she felt it so easy to get out of her comfort zone with Gray.

"I guess I jumped the gun on this one. So let's hear what you want." Gray was so unsure of what Levy might do so he used the more prevalent thought of using bribery since it usually worked with the others.

"Well, t-there's my book club in a few days, so I'm a-asking if you'd come with me." Levy was slightly blushing to herself looking at the door avoiding the ice mage's gaze, knowing that she'd ironically melt under his stare.

"If that's what you want, then I'll come along with you." A simple request and it wasn't over the top like maybe Cana or embarrassing like Natsu's, so he easily agreed to what Levy asked for.

"R-Really!? It's a date then, so you then Gray!" Levy excitedly said as she was leaving the room in a rush and Gray nodded in agreement, until he realized what she said.

"Wait Levy, a dat-" Gray couldn't finish what he wanted to say for the third time that night since Levy had left his library.

 _ **"A date with Levy!? Oh man, what's Erza going to do to me if she finds out!?"**_ Gray was losing his mind, constantly thinking of the things Erza was capable of and her methods of revenge.

He calmed himself down and refocused at the task at hand, he needed to find Lucy before Erza became impatient or Levy let something out by accident. If those two were downstairs and haven't met up with Lucy, then she was still up stairs somewhere. He went room to room, but he still couldn't find her anywhere until he noticed the door to his balcony was left open.

He stepped outside in the cold air and was welcomed by the sight of a beautiful blonde looking up at the stars near the railing. She had a fond smile as she watched the many constellations of her friends and the nightly breeze swayed her hair, adding more to her beauty. Lucy turned around at the sound of footsteps and smiled at seeing Gray who was leaned against the door frame, his own smile present as he waved his hand.

"You enjoying yourself there Lucy?" Gray asked as he pushed himself off and decided to lean on the rail beside her instead.

"It's a clear night and I wanted to look out at the stars, it's a little hard to do so at my house." She replied as the ice mage turned around and propped his elbows on the railing, his back towards the landscape.

"Hmm, yeah it sure is a nice night out here. I've been looking for you, Erza said that it's time to get going." The ice mage was playing on his cool persona as hard as he could because he's already starting to feel odd inside with her so close.

"Wow, it feels like we barely got here, but I guess Erza's right. Thanks for showing us around your house Gray. Maybe we could start hanging around here now instead of mine." Lucy joked as she stepped back from the railing and her heart beat quickened when she caught sight of Gray's smile. His rare true smile versus the smirks he usually had or his grin.

"I doubt it Lucy, your place is much closer to the guild and it's fun being there than here I'm sure." He replied as the blonde sighed in defeat, it was worth a shot to see if that could happen.

"Yeah you're right, anyway thanks again Gray we'll see you when you get back." Lucy said as Gray offered to see them out, but before he stepped through the threshold back into his home Lucy called out to him. Even if Loke told her that Gray liked her back she just wanted confirmation, whatever Natsu did or Erza for that matter didn't concern her at this point.

"What's up? Is there something else you need to say?" Gray was hoping not because his night went for a downward spiral with his heart increasingly beating faster and faster with each conversation he had.

"Gray do you...like me?" Lucy was trying her hardest not to blush just yet and hoped that her knees didn't give away while she was being looked at by the ice mage.

"Sure I do Lucy you're my guild mate and team mate after all." Lucy inwardly faced palmed, sure she was trying to suppress her blush that took all her mental power to do so, but that question was to broad to ask that anyone would answer it like Natsu.

"N-No that's not what I meant Gray. I-I mean in a, uh...romantic way." She gave up on holding back her blush and prepared herself to be denied. Maybe Loke just said that to protect Gray's image, if so than that was a cruel trick he pulled on her.

Lucy waited for a reply from the ravenette, but didn't get any and she slowly started to notice the faint pink tinge that was beginning to spread across his cheeks. The blonde wanted an answer, but she hadn't taken into account how hard it was for Gray to speak his emotions. She knew he wasn't that much of an introvert, but such complicated emotions are ones he hasn't been able to deal with in his past. The wait was beginning to get to her and she was ready to cry, believing that he was trying to think of the nicest way of saying he wasn't into her like that.

Gray on the other hand, had no idea of how to reply to her or why she threw that question at him in the first place. He could deny it, but Loke had told him that the feeling is mutual and it would break her heart if he did. However, he never really confessed to anyone before except for Cana and that only left him with his own heart broken. Is it worth it to take a leap of faith? _**"Please don't come and bite me in the ass later!"**_

"I do...I do like you Lucy, in that romantic way..." Being true to his word was something Gray always followed, but now his troubles had multiplied again. His heart went out to three girls now; his slowly budding romance with Erza, the possible return of the lost feelings for Cana and the originally standing feelings for Lucy.

"You really mean it Gray?" Lucy felt like she was among the stars now and speaking of stars, her gate keys could feel the great happiness that radiated off their master although they still weren't out of the woods yet.

"Yeah I mean it, but I...there are things I need to deal with myself first." Gray wished the blonde would understand, these feelings he had were so new to him and he himself had no idea how to deal with them properly.

The ravenette was thankful for the advice he was given, but he was still lost in this strange feeling emotion. He cared for all of them, but knowing that to two of them he was going to be the root of their pain didn't sit right with him. He had wanted to be with Lucy, something that he hasn't wanted to do with anyone after Cana, but now he had became aware of the underlying love that he had for Erza which stopped him in his own tracks. Was romance always this difficult to handle? Or was Mavis testing him for who knows what he had done?

"I understand Gray, there's something I have to deal with too..." Lucy said as a quick thought of Juvia popped into her head, followed by her possible opposition and her team.

"Glad to hear it now come on, I'm sure Erza's patience is running really thin right about now." Gray and Lucy soon made their way downstairs as Levy and Erza were speaking to one another about something he couldn't catch clearly.

Gray waved good bye to them as the group of three had decided to walk back to Lucy's apartment. The ice mage plopped himself onto the couch, exhausted by all the events of today that made it seem so much longer. Hopefully this request was going to let him catch a break for once and enjoy his time away from everything. Things are getting out of control and Gray was unsure if he could keep everything in order if this continued, he just wished things would move smoother and faster so this "romance torture", as he now called, it would leave him alone.

As for the girls, they were talking about what may come up at the meeting the next day until the conversation looped around to the disappearance of Natsu. Lucy had taken notice that the pink haired teen and his annoying blue cat were not walking with them since they left Gray's home.

"Gray told me that Natsu had something to do so he had to leave ahead of us." Levy explained to Lucy as Erza nodded her head in agreement.

"But I'm not sure that's the case..." Erza said thinking back to when she saw Natsu rushing past her and out the front door.

"What do you mean Erza?" Lucy asked as the red head had a pensive look on her face, recalling exactly what she saw.

"Something had happened between Natsu and Gray, that I'm certain of, but what concerns me the most was that I could've sworn I noticed a tear on Natsu's face as he left." It bothered her that Natsu had a tear in his eye, it's unlike Natsu to cry and it rarely happens. The first time she ever saw him legitimately cry was after Lisanna's death.

"A tear? What happened between them?" Levy knew that those two could bash each other's skull for hours on end without really showing any signs of tears, but something must have hurt Natsu pretty bad for that to happen.

"I hope he's alright." Lucy was worried for her friend, he was always a bright flame in the depth of the darkest times for the guild, but for him to shed tears was something Lucy worried about.

"I do too, we'll ask him what happened tomorrow morning. I'm sure he's already home by now." Erza said as Lucy and Levy agreed, however they had a slight hope that it didn't involve Gray in any of this.

* * *

The next morning Gray got up with a start, already packed and ready to go for the request with Lisanna. He walked through the early morning commotion of children running off to school, stores opening and bakers already starting on the first loafs of the day, but he felt a certain uneasiness when he thought about the guild and paid it a little bit of his mind before focusing on making it to the train station.

He had made it earlier than Lisanna and took the time to get a few more minutes of sleep, until he was woken up by the white haired mage when she finally arrived. "Sleeping still Gray, I hope you're ready to go." She said as he stood up from the bench he was napping on.

"Yeah I'm ready, let's get going." With that the two Fairy Tailers waited for their train, making small talk to pass the time until it pulled up into the station.

The two soon boarded taking a booth for themselves as Gray looked out the window towards Fairy Tail. That odd sensation returned to him as he looked out to the guild building, but he was sure that nothing was going to happen so he turned back to Lisanna. He just hoped he had something to say to her, else this was going to be one of the most awkward rides he'll ever be on.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:** _Hello ladies and gents, I'm back with another chapter for you! Plus, Happy Halloween and if you're reading this chapter after it passed than good day or evening to you. There'll be an author's note at the bottom so please take a look at it when you've finished the chapter. As always review and enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 14

"Natsu! Get your ass down here now!" Came the frightening shout of the one and only Titania who was livid this early morning.

The three women of Team E.L.L.N. had all met up early in the morning to bid good bye to their ice mage, but needed Natsu to be there too since he would want to as well. It was a simple early walk towards his home, nothing to set the requip mage off, unless you're Natsu and made her late, than you might as well suffer her wrath. They were trying to call him down for the past 30 minutes or so, but haven't gotten a response and before they knew it Gray's train could be heard leaving the station. Erza was stunned to hear it and soon it became anger as the dragon slayer was the one who had delayed them to say goodbye to Gray.

Lucy and Levy were standing a few feet away from the raging red head as she continued to bang on Natsu's door, however they were becoming worried for the pink haired mage. It wouldn't be long for Erza to cut down the door and rushed in to get him, yet they feared for their lives when the thought of trying to get in the way of Erza's war path came to mind. Both girls hadn't expected it to turn out like this, but they each knew if there was anyone who could survive Erza's rage than it would be Gray, Natsu and a few other guild mates as well.

It continued for about five more minutes before the door slowly creaked open and a scared Happy stood in the door way, afraid to look up at the angered mage in front of him. Lucy and Levy took this time to come closer and see what was going on with Natsu and find out if Happy would know anything about the unresponsive mage.

"Happy where is Natsu? He needs punishment for making me late." Erza said as the blue cat hugged onto the door frame in pure fright.

"H-He's up stairs in h-his room!" He answered terrified, running away into the giant pile of mess they had in the living room, knowing that it would be a safe place until Erza cooled down.

"Alright let's see why he didn't answer. Move it you two!" Erza said marching up the staircase as the other two squeaked in fright and immediately followed after her, just hoping that Erza wouldn't over do it.

It wasn't that high of a staircase and Erza had already burst through the door once Levy and Lucy had made it to the top. Both girls looked around the dragon slayer's room for any sign of him or Erza, until they caught sight of her looking at the pink haired mage. Natsu was sitting in one of the corners of his room, his head hung low as his hair shadowed his face and his hand holding his scarf in a tight grip. The girls hadn't seen Natsu do something like this before and wondered what happened to him to act like this. Erza quickly stepped up in front of him, placing her hands on her hips taking the very recognizable stance of the Fairy Queen who was going to have her way.

"Explain yourself Natsu, why didn't you answer the door?" Erza waited for a response, the other two worried about the pink haired mage's behavior, but he simply mumbled something out.

"What did he say?" Lucy asked as not even Erza heard him either.

"Natsu look up at me and answer me." She commanded and the dragon slayer obliged, but shocked the group in front him.

He faced them down, eyes puffy as if he was crying and a look of disdain was in his them, something that they knew he'd do to enemies of the guild. However it was Lucy who noticed that he wasn't trying to look at them like that, it was more like he was viewing himself in that way. She immediately ran to his side and placed a concerned hand on his shoulder, hoping he would tell them what happened to him.

"I said that's all I wanted to do!" He yelled as a stray tear fell from his eye, Lucy quickly embracing her best friend as she didn't want to see like this.

"What do you mean Natsu?" Levy said as she stepped closer, witnessing for the first time that he was actually crying about something.

"I messed up...I messed up...I told him I was sorry, but he wouldn't let me explain" He said as he tightened the grip on his scarf, now worrying even Erza as he seemed to repeat himself. "It was a great moment and I messed it up."

"Talk to us Natsu, what happened?" Erza asked as she kneeled down so she could be face to face with the pink haired slayer.

"Me and Gray were having a moment...and then I just couldn't help it" He replied as the girls were trying their hardest to figure out what exactly happened to these two and why was Natsu crying about it. "I knew I messed up and I just wanted to explain it to Gray, but he wouldn't let me."

"You've got to be clearer than that Natsu, we just want to help." Lucy said as the grip he had on his scarf loosened up, his hand slowly falling down towards his lap.

"I...kinda jumped on Gray... I couldn't help it!" Natsu never truly understood this feeling of liking someone so much, so boundaries were something he didn't have a clue of until last night.

"You did what!" Erza was once again angered, it was one thing if you confront Gray about your feelings for him, but to force yourself on him was something completely different.

"Now Erza please calm down. We've got to understand that this is Natsu. I'm sure he had no idea what personal space is about and what to do when someone you like is around." Lucy was once again defending the dragon slayer from the wrath of Erza, but this time he wasn't being careless for her to give up on him.

"She's right Erza, I don't think he understands the concepts of relationships as well as we do...amongst a few other things." Levy added as she too knew that Natsu wasn't the greatest when it came to romantic relationships, although she did wonder how Lisanna managed it with him when they were kids.

"...I'm still here you know." Natsu grumbled to himself, but he was still grateful that they were defending him from the red head.

"Fine, I can't necessarily blame Natsu so much since he has no clue, but you better make sure you don't do it again." Erza said as he readily agreed with her, still feeling down for what happened but a small chat between Lucy and Levy helped him get over that hurdle of a troubled mind.

It had taken some time to get Natsu to understand that he has to have self control around Gray or else something like last night would happen again. Slowly but surely the dragon slayer was starting to understand it bit by bit and the girls were more than glad that Natsu's ability to shift between moods easily came around. He was back on his feet, using what happened as experience on what not to do and as a form of motivation that he wouldn't give up so easily. With a new conviction in mind Natsu had finally brought himself around to help support his team for the meeting.

Team E.L.L.N. set out of the Dragneel household, with Happy in tow, and made their way towards the guild hall where the meeting concerning Gray was going to take place. The team was ready for anything to come their way and were prepared to mark their right on Gray if they were singled out during it.

* * *

As they entered the building they noticed a number of people weren't present and knew that the little threatening that had been done had actually worked. What remained were the true opponents they had to face, all sitting in a large circle made up of multiple tables. Erza glanced over towards Mira and took notice of her team, being made up of two other members plus an empty seat; the two who were present are Cana and Elfman.

Natsu had glanced over to the other group after Gray and was surprised to see Laxus and his Thunder Legion. He of course looked bored, Bixlow was joking around with Freed who looked like he wasn't caring much about it and then there was Evergreen who had a slight blush covering her cheeks as she refused to look up from her table. Out of all the people Natsu thought to see, Laxus was one he hadn't expected to have a thing for Gray. Then again he didn't expect to have a thing for Gray himself.

Lucy had noticed the threatening aura directed at her and could feel Juvia glaring holes into her head from her side of the circle. She noticed the water mage sitting in between Mira's and Laxus' group, but she was surprised to see who she partnered up with. Sitting right next to her was the long haired iron dragon slayer and if Lucy was surprised to see him there, than Levy was beyond words when she noticed him there. The bluenette heard of the possible people that would show up, but to see her crush sitting at the circle with her group's main opposition completely tore her. Sure she may have wanted to get at Gray too, but she was smart enough to know that something like that was a long shot and hoped Gajeel wouldn't find out.

Too bad he did in this way, but what lifted her spirits a bit was both Jet and Droy were sitting at the circle with four available seats next to them as they waved. She didn't know if they were in on this too or if they came to support her like they usually do, but it didn't really matter so long as she still had them at her side. Team E.L.L.N. took their seats alongside them and Levy took the seat closest to them to get some answers.

"Jet, Droy what are you two doing here?"

"We're here to support you Levy!" Droy said as he gave a thumb's up with his free hand since the other had a chicken leg in it.

"When we learned that you had a thing for Gray we knew he was an alright guy for you to date, even though it still needs some getting used to." Jet added as Levy smiled in gratitude that these two had actually supported her curious fling for Gray, she was hopeful that this meeting would run smoothly.

"Wait, how did you two find out that I had a thing for Gray?" Levy was cautious now since these two had found out, it would mean that even if her group was being stealthy about their conversations, someone was still spying on them.

"Loke told us, he came around when we noticed a lot of people who looked scared out of their pants." Droy replied as Levy nodded in understanding, making a mental note of asking Lucy to punish her lion spirit for mouthing off her personal life to others.

It took a few more minutes to finish off a few more things that Mira needed to do, but as soon as she was done the meeting had gone underway. Many people had to get over the initial shock of seeing their guild mates going after the same guy and those who harbored secret crushes were the most blown away from seeing there hopeful partner in the future at a place at the circle. The clamoring went on for about ten minutes while Erza was trying to think of who that empty seat belongs to on Mira's team before she couldn't take the noise level anymore.

With a commanding voice she settled everyone down and Mira gave the requip mage her thanks, although Erza remained weary of what she had up her sleeve. Now that everyone was quiet, Mira took this time to speak up for she was the one who was leading this meeting for Gray.

"Now that we've gotten settled, let's get down to business." The eldest take over mage said as everyone sat attentive. "Each one of us here are after the same person, Gray. While I personally don't like having so much competition, I created this meeting to settle this matter peacefully before it gets settled the old fashion way."

"Mira's right, the last thing we need is to have an all out guild brawl amongst ourselves just for one person." Erza added as many of the other mages nodded in agreement, but Cana was still upset of what happened yesterday and wanted to knock Erza off her high horse.

"Alright then Scarlet, then what do you suggest?" Cana asked as she crossed her arms in a waiting fashion, testing the red head for what she's got.

"At the moment I'm open to any suggestions." Erza had no real idea to settle this peacefully as the only people she was concerned of at the moment are Mira and Cana. Cana on the other hand was very pleased that she got Erza good, knowing that the red head didn't even have one idea of settling this.

"Why not test to see who knows Gray better?" Came the unexpected voice of Wendy as she sat off at the far edge of the circle nearby Team E.L.L.N.

"Wendy what are you doing here!" Lucy was embarrassed, to say the least, that the little dragon slayer had arrived at this meeting to depict the course of action concerning Gray.

"I decided to take a break and play with Romeo, but he went on a mission with his father last night and won't be back until tomorrow, so I decided to come to the guild." She replied as the other teams began to feel self-conscious that Wendy had interrupted their meeting.

"So you understand what's going on here, right?" Levy asked as the dark haired girl nodded shyly, realizing that everyone's focus was placed on her.

"I-I do and I think that it's nice to know this many people like Gray-nii." She was actually surprised to see this many people since as far as she knew, it was mainly centered around two girls for him compared to these fourteen people in front of her.

The thought of Wendy calling Gray her brother worried a few of those in the circle as they were unsure what may occur if they spoke out with her around. If she could call him brother, than that meant she has built a close relationship to the mage and can go to him if she needs to. Which doesn't work in their favor since she could always go out and tell the ice mage what happened when he gets back, but they had faith that little Wendy wouldn't say a word about this. The nervous silence that the others were maintaining was getting on Evergreen's nerves so she decided to end it before it goes on any longer.

"Ahem...Well it's good that you understand the situation, but your suggestion is a little unfair." Evergreen spoke as she hid her slight blush of embarrassment behind her fan.

"She's right, most of us don't exactly know the Stripper that great." Gajeel said as many nodded their heads in agreement, except for Erza and Cana who knew him pretty well.

 _ **"Than why do you want my Onii-san for?"**_ Wendy thought as she didn't understand how a person would want someone that they have no definite idea of how he's like.

"Thank you for the idea Wendy, but we want it to be fair for everyone." Mira said as Natsu immediately jumped up from his seat to say his idea. "And no Natsu, we can't do a fighting tournament either." At once the dragon slayer deflated into his seat with a small pout as he mumbled to himself that it would've been a great idea.

For the next hour a number of suggestions had been given and each was vetoed on the basis that it didn't have a fairness to it for a certain group of people. Tensions were running high between Natsu and Gajeel as he kept smirking at him and the pink haired dragon slayer was still annoyed with what he said to him a few days ago. That was between them, now in comparison with the female division, that was a cooking grenade ready to explode. As it was more of a subtle battle between Mira and Erza, a stare down with Juvia and Lucy with Levy gauging both Cana and Evergreen.

Thankfully their little mediator Wendy had decided to intervene and have everyone take a break before things got out of hand and the Master would come back to find a destroyed guild hall. Everyone had agreed and left the circle to take a quick breather to collect themselves so they could continue in a peaceful manner. For the young dragon slayer, it was quite interesting to see so many people riled up for just one person, luckily for her he's her older brother, in a sense so that she doesn't have to compete for him. However, there was Carrie she had to deal with and hoped to settle it fairly amongst themselves to make it much more easier than with Gray's option of having them both. Wendy was brought out of her thoughts when she noticed shimmering light forming next to Lucy.

"Wow, this many people are after that cold prick?" Loke said as he materialized beside Lucy who sighed to herself as the spirit casually winked at her.

"You said about four others were after him besides us Loke. You missed the other ten people." Lucy said as he laughed nervously for the unexpected amount of people that liked Gray.

"Well it's too late to complain about it, we're just going to have to deal with it for now." Erza said as she watched everyone speaking within their group, however it looked like Bixlow was complaining about something with Evergreen. Along with Juvia and Gajeel missing from her sights.

"Things will smooth out in no time, so keep your heads held high. We spirits got high hopes for all of you to come out on top." Loke said as they smiled in appreciation for his reassuring words.

Loke spoke to them for a while, telling them that he and the other spirits were watching the entire thing go down. There had been a number of suggestions that they agreed to as well, but when they heard a bit more of the other side's argument they realized that it wasn't equal in terms of chance. However, he had mentioned that Aquarius made her own suggestion that this meeting wasn't really going to work out and that they should've gone with Natsu's idea.

The dragon slayer was happy that someone had agreed with him, but the others still believed that wasn't the best course of action. They spoke with one another for a few more minutes before Mira was calling everyone back to complete the meeting, but no one had seen the Phantom Team anywhere and no one volunteered to look for them. In the end there was a unanimous vote to send Loke to retrieve them since he wasn't being a part of this meeting and the lion spirit sighed in defeat as he went off to search, with Mira directing him to head further into the guild.

* * *

Loke walked through the halls, looking through every door he came across to see of those two were in any of them and was amazed that the new guild building had this many rooms. One after the other they were empty of anyone inside besides being extra storage areas or rooms for those who were too drunk to head home at times. He was growing bored of searching until he could hear the sounds of an argument going on further down the hall. He quickly made his way towards the slightly opened door to tell Juvia and Gajeel that the meeting has started up again until he heard what Gajeel was saying.

"See what happened rain woman! That little stunt you pulled has this many consequences!" Gajeel was angry by the amount of people that showed up, to him he had believed that three or five other people would show up. Instead he sees fourteen others and one of his own calling the mage "brother".

"Juvia is sorry Gajeel-kun, but Juvia has already told you what had happened at the celebration and this is the result." She tried to calm down the angered dragon slayer who kept pacing to avoid destroying anything in the room. His frustration mainly coming from seeing Salamander and Laxus in the same room.

"Out of all your ways of trying to gain the Stripper's attention, you end up using that potion you bought to help. Like all the other times, you failed and this time you've involved all these people including me in it. This is how you feel for him and now we are experiencing your own damn feelings!" He knew he agreed to help her, but the sight of Levy entering with the pink haired idiot's team made him question if this was worth it.

"If it weren't for Natsu-san bumping into Juvia, than Juvia wouldn't have dropped the potion in the punch." Juvia argued back as she too was frustrated that her Love Rival had Erza on her team, which didn't help her chances at all.

 _ **"Wait, than no one feels that way for Gray on their own!? I'm positive Lucy does though, I just know that her feelings are genuine."**_ Loke couldn't believe that this was all happening because of a mishap and that all those people didn't even like Gray in a romantic sense at all, save for Lucy of course.

"You're right, Salamander's idiocy had made you drop it, but why go as far as using a potion? You've been trying hard these past few weeks to get his attention more than usual, why is that?" Gajeel has notice the increase of attempts that Juvia has been doing recently and now truly wondered why she was getting very close to being desperate.

"Juvia...Juvia can't answer Gajeel-kun." She averted looking at him since this was a personal matter that made her do this. Juvia has her reasons in doing so, but wasn't prepared to say anything about them even to her dear friend.

"Oh no, this is serious rain woman. You have to tell me why this is becoming a continuous thing with you and your plans. I have a right to know since I'm both your partner in this and your...ugh...f-friend." Gajeel wasn't about to say out right that he really cared for the water mage, but he had taken notice of how sullen she became and worried for her.

"No, Juvia can't say. This is her resolve to keep trying." This is what she uses to remind herself to keep trying on getting her Gray-sama's attention.

"Don't give me that, for all the years I've known you this is something that's troubling you. Just tell me!" Gajeel had to push his demands, he wouldn't get anything if he didn't try.

"It's because I can't lose Gray-sama again!" Both men reeled back slightly after her outburst, Loke surprised to hear her not refer herself in the third person, but Gajeel knew this was serious if she actually used "I".

"What do you mean "again" rain woman?" Gajeel had caught on to that bit since he hadn't expected to hear "again".

"It was during the battle against the dragons...Gray-sama saved me from being hit by those baby dragons, but he was hit several times instead." Juvia couldn't get rid of that memory from her mind, seeing her beloved being shot down by so many of their beams.

"Gray-sama died protecting me and I couldn't do anything about it, even if you think I'm not telling the truth I wasn't alone. Lyon-sama and Meredy-san could tell you the same thing of my beloved's demise." In the moments she believes that she will only continue to fail that memory pops up into her mind, telling her of all the things she would never got to do with him, how Lyon raged against the baby dragons after witnessing his fellow pupil's death and the tears Meredy shed for the man that Juvia managed to change her opinion of.

 _ **"Gray died during the battle!? There's no way that icy bastard would die, but the way Juvia's speaking..."**_ It was surreal to hear that his best friend had died that night, but he just didn't want to believe that it truly happened.

"You're saying that he died, but that's impossible. We all saw him yesterday." The iron dragon slayer could see her eyes watering as she told him that, but he couldn't up and believe that the ice mage had died in battle.

"I thought so too, but it all reset and appeared again like deja vu although this time we managed to stop his death." She remembered the relief that swept over her when she saw the ice mage still breathing and standing in front of her. "But I know it wasn't; it couldn't be because it felt too real."

The long haired man wanted to say something that would counter that claim, but he too had experienced a moment where he was critically wounded by the dragon he was fighting until everything reset and managed to dodge the attack. He knew the water mage was telling the truth and could now see why her plans came one after the other, she wasn't being desperate to gain his attention at all. She was just trying to do whatever she could before something like that happened again and he doesn't make it.

"Don't worry so much about it rain woman...the Stripper's alive now so why are you tearing up?" Gajeel was trying his best to cheer her up in any way possible, but he hasn't even tried to comfort someone before in his entire life time so this was a first. "For now, it's up to you and me to kick some ass and get the ice boxers to ourselves."

 _ **"I can't believe that this is all happening just because of a potion. Plus Juvia's motivation for doing so was all because he died during the fight against the dragons."**_ Loke was trying his best to wrack his brain around everything he's heard, but could only come to the conclusion that whatever's happened to Gray these past few days was just an accident and no one truly feels that way about him. However, the thought came up of how Gray might feel if he found out that it was all a lie and all that happened between him and Erza wasn't true. _**"What am I going to do!?"**_

Gajeel gave the water mage a cloth to dry her eyes and waited for her to settle down, but could smell the faint odor of something close by. Loke could hear the dragon slayer making his way towards the door and immediately returned back to the spirit world, worried that he couldn't come up with a good excuse to rely on if he were caught. Gajeel had opened the door further to see no one was there and questioned if someone was spying on them until he could hear the sounds of multiple chairs being pulled out and people talking, which he took for the meeting to be starting up again.

"Let's get going rain woman, break time is over." He said as Juvia walked alongside him a small smile forming on her lips as Gajeel gave her a questioning stare.

"Thank you Gajeel-kun for trying to cheer Juvia up." She was back to her normal self and the dragon slayer could feel his cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

"I-I just did it so that the others don't think up random reasons why you were crying." It felt weird to help his friend out on an emotional basis, so he wasn't very comfortable with receiving gratitude for anything he did. "W-We can't look weak in front of our opposition."

"Gajeel-kun's right and is truly Juvia's friend." The blue haired woman replied as he simply clicked his tongue and kept walking back to the group.

However, things are still not looking so high for Loke as he rested his form on his bed, still trying to process everything. How could such a small mistake do all this? Not to mention if there was any way of undoing it before things actually go Natsu's way. He'd stand by Lucy's side no question, but this is truly a battle between her and Juvia as the others are just accidental players in this mess.

"Damn Gray, looks like I'm going to bail your ass out of this one too." Loke joked ruefully as he now needed to find a solution to undo the damage Juvia's caused.

* * *

At another location on-board a train heading for Toric, a small town a few miles east of Magnolia, a quiet ice mage sneezed out of the blue, which in turn got the equally quiet animal soul mage to look away from the window.

"Bless you" Lisanna said as Gray thanked her, but she wasn't to give up on starting a conversation with him. They have been riding in the same booth together for the past two hours, with only less than ten minutes of speaking to each other at the start of their ride.

"Hey Gray, do you...um, think we'll see any rain there?" _**"Way to go Lisanna, use the lamest thing to say."**_ She mentally face palmed, upset that that was the only thing that came to mind, since she doesn't really have a clue of what to say to him.

"I doubt it, the skies look pretty clear for the next few miles so there isn't really much of a chance that'll happen." Gray replied since he was getting bored of not doing anything and he wasn't so tired to take a nap at all, rather he was on alert for no real reason.

"Well that's good..." And that was it for that conversation as they both fell into a quiet atmosphere and Lisanna was unsure how to continue speaking with him. She was trying to think of a topic, but it was difficult to do so with someone she rarely spoke to.

"You don't have to try so hard you know." Gray spoke up, surprising Lisanna out of her small frustration.

"Huh? Was I really that obvious?" Lisanna hadn't really expected for him to see her like that, let alone notice the difficulty she was going through.

"You knit your eyebrows together and do a little pout when you're trying to think of something to say, just like Mira." Gray could see the resemblance between the twp sisters and he found it amusing how much alike they were at times.

"Well...That's because you're different from what I'm use to." She was being opened about it, and if Lisanna was right then Gray would at least continue the conversation.

"What are you used to then?" Gray wondered what she had to put up with when talking to that pansy of a counter part called Gray Surge.

"For one, I'm used to seeing a lot of layers on your body, two there's a cheerier attitude present all the time and three, Juvia comes up in the conversation more than once." Lisanna replied as she could tell that Gray was not pleased with Surge.

"Well now you'll have to deal with a single coated me, a more serious attitude around if that's what you want and I doubt you'll hear much if not nothing about Juvia on this job." He knew Edolas was a pretty different place compared to Earthland, but he didn't expect his other self to be like that at all.

"Oh? I'm fine with the first one, a little on the second; I prefer some fun around that attitude and if we aren't going to talk about Juvia than who will we be talking about." As Mira had told her, her job during this request is to extract some info on the opinions Gray has of the other girls.

"Don't think I'll openly say it that quick Lisanna, especially now that the leverage I have is that you still can get **your** Natsu." Gray said cheekily as a blush adorned Lisanna's face, unprepared for the ice mage calling out her small crush on the pink haired mage.

"You wouldn't dare say anything to him!" Lisanna may have openly expressed how much she cared for Natsu when they were younger, but it was a completely different matter now that they were much older.

"You're right I wouldn't, but that doesn't mean I won't go to Mira about this." The white haired mage knew that of all people her older sister knew about that, the problem was that if someone else knew about it than she'd make it a bigger deal.

"Fine...you win, even though I didn't get a chance to defend myself." Lisanna couldn't believe how fast he turned the whole thing on her, just with a few words between them and she now surrenders to him.

"Alright then, for now we'll just talk. We've never had a one-on-one so right now is as good of a time as any." Gray said smirking to himself, amused at how fast he changed the spot light from him to her, yet he saw this as an opportunity to communicate with someone other than his team or the people he punches during guild brawls.

Lisanna on the other hand realized at this moment that she was on the road to acquaint herself better with the Earthland Gray. He may be more mischievous than Surge with more confidence to boot, but she still believes that there are some aspects they both share somewhere. For now, she'd just have to humor him until they reach their destination, hopefully they could break the ice (no pun intended) enough so this request would seem less awkward.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Awesome you read the whole chapter! Anyways, I may be slow on chapter updates thanks to research papers I have to do for my college classes, hopefully not though because I want to bring you guys more to read._

 _The plot has now advanced and it's up to Loke to right the wrongs that have been done because of Juvia's potion accident. As of recent, I have plotted the course of how the story will end (sadly) to which this has led me to ask you guys this..._

 _After Gray has returned from the request and his little date with Levy, what characters do you want me to pair Gray up with for a bit before the ending?_

 _Keep in mind that I already have ending pairings done, but I'll do my best on your choice(s) for who Gray's time will be spent with before Loke finds a way to save his best wing man. PM me for the characters or write it in your review, whichever you wish to do. Thanks for reading everyone, hope to see you in the next chapter involving Gray, Lisanna and an unexpected development. (P.S. I'm not a big Gruvia fan, but if that's what the readers want than I'll swallow my pride and write a chapter on it.)_


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:** _Yes, I got this chapter done, but this overall took me a lot to think over. Let's get all of you good readers going, so review and enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 15

"So you're telling me that Surge developed his crush on Edo-Juvia because she saved him from being captured by the Edolas guards?" It had been a good hour that Gray and Lisanna were talking with one another after her quick surrender and they've made pretty good conversations thus far. It mainly consisted of each other's version of what happened during the two year gap she was missing.

"Well if you count rolling him off the side of a cliff saving, then yeah that's when it all started." Lisanna had learned an interesting amount from Gray, things her sister and Elfman hadn't covered before; she felt a weird sense of happiness when she heard that Natsu was one of the people who took the longest to overcome her "death".

"He doesn't quit easily, I'll give him that." Gray gave Surge credit for determination, but there were still a couple of faults his counter part had that he couldn't shake.

"After meeting this world's Juvia, I'm pretty sure they'd hit it off pretty well." Lisanna joked has Gray simply smirked at her, but he too thought the same thing. Those two did share an interesting quality of trying their hardest on getting the one they like, although Gray's happy that her attempts on him seem to be decreasing lately.

"I guess they might, but you never know. Also, I already said we'll hardly talk about her so do you have another topic to talk about?"

Gray and Lisanna talked about a variety of topics that had created enough small conversation to lead up to another one. However, the white haired mage still hadn't gotten much of anything on Gray's opinion of the other girls and was trying to get him to slip up. Of course this was proving futile since he seemed to be good at keeping certain details under wraps. Every now and then she'd try to suggest something that related to one of the girls' personalities, but he'd find a way to sway it out of the conversation and it would take her a little to bit to realize that he changed her quick suggestion into a completely different subject.

It became a back and forth thing between them; Lisanna trying to get Gray to say something about any of the girls and Gray simply cutting it short before anything was said. Before Lisanna knew it, they had arrived at the Toric station and was disappointed that she hadn't received any information and decided that she'd just try again later, but she did manage to learn a few things.

Lisanna did find some similar traits between the two Gray's during their conversations, although the differences were still prevalent; Surge was like an open book to read that didn't require her to try so hard, but this Gray was like trying to read in the dark. However, she was expecting this since Edolas and Earthland are two different places completely. Returning to the task at hand, Lisanna tried to keep in step with the ice mage as he unloaded their things off the train.

They walked down the streets for sometime looking for the mayor's office, taking in the scenery around them. Decorations covered the lamp posts, banners were being put up and the people were quickly rushing back and forth with different items in their hands. They had to stop someone to ask for directions since they were getting turned around every time they came across people moving equipment towards a large hall. Luckily the person, even if he was rushing, was kind enough to tell them to head straight down the street and make a left near the fountain until they come across a large building with a statue in the front.

They followed the directions to the letter and were glad that both the statue and building stood out compared to the rest of the town. The statue being that of an old man with a very antique looking magic gun, obviously the town's founder and the building had more decorations on it versus the buildings they had come across before. As they stepped in, there were people who were going back and forth, but the receptionist looked to be waiting for something as she sat in her seat looking on at the others. Both mages walked up to her, full knowing that she was their guide to where the mayor is.

"Hello we're here on a request, we're the Fairy Tail mages who accepted." Lisanna said as the receptionist quickly activated a communications lacrima, no doubt contacting the mayor that the mages have already arrived.

"The mayor's been expecting you, please follow me." She said as Gray and Lisanna followed after her, walking past portraits of previous town leaders and landscapes that span as far as the neighboring countries.

The two mages followed the receptionists all the way towards the front of two double doors as she signaled them to go inside. Once they entered, it reminded them a lot of Natsu's living room. Stacks of papers were strewn across the floor, books littered the mayor's desk with the man himself furiously scribbling away at a number of documents in front of him. As he looked up towards the two arrivals he sighed a breath of relief, glad that he could get a few minutes away from his work.

He was a rather pudgy man, standing nearly as tall as Gray but he had this air of jolly to himself that seemed to suit him well. The mayor was well groomed given the state of his office, the signs of grey hair already showing; whether from stress or age the two Fairy Tailers wouldn't know. However, he wore a grateful smile that looked as if he had finally found an answer to all his troubles, which might actually be the case.

"Welcome Fairy Tail mages to the town of Toric. My name is Mathew Hansworth, as you may already know as the mayor of this fine town, but please call me Mr. Hansworth." He said as he began settling the documents he was writing on in order.

"Pleased to meet you Mr. Hansworth, I'm Lisanna Strauss and my partner here is Gray Fullbuster." Lisanna said introducing themselves as common courtesy, although Gray would've chosen to just say his name, but he was on Lisanna's mission after all.

"I'd like to thank you both for coming on short notice, I had barely posted the request two days ago and was afraid it might be too late before someone were to see it." Mr. Hansworth had finished putting away the more important files and chuckled lightly as he looked at the condition his office was in. "Please don't mind the mess, my office is much cleaner than this. I've been rather busy lately so I hadn't gotten the chance to clean up yet."

"That's alright with us, but if you don't mind can you tell us the details of the request so we could be prepared for later tonight." Gray said as he knew that preparations could boost their chances of an incident not occurring.

"You're right my boy, I need you to be undercover bodyguards at my son's wedding party."

"That explains why there was so many people running around." Lisanna mused as she recounted the people they passed running with items and articles in their hands.

"Why do you need security at a wedding party?" Gray's never really been to a wedding before, but he's sure that you don't need mage security for one unless some pretty nasty people are trying to crash it.

"The problem is that the young lady my son's marrying use to be a part of a nasty crew of degenerates that hang out on the outskirts of town." Mr. Hansworth said, as he remembered hearing a few rune knights seeing them flee towards the outskirts before. "They were no problem for our law enforcement and the rune knights that pass by to spend some time to recuperate, but as of late some of them now have access to magic and have threaten to attack the town if we were to go through with the wedding."

"I see, well don't you fret any longer Mr. Hansworth because we'll be ready if they try anything on your town." Lisanna said as the pudgy man smiled in appreciation towards the two mages sitting in front of him.

"Thank you again for your assistance, we have a room prepared for you two at a nearby hotel for you to relax in before the time comes." Both mages were glad to hear that, however Gray quickly picked up the word room, as in singular.

"Did you say "room", as in just the one?"

"Why yes I did. You two are a couple, are you not?" Gray awkwardly coughed to the side at Mr. Hansworth's question, while Lisanna began blushing immensely.

 **"Me and Gray, a couple!?"** She didn't think anyone would view them like that, sure the mission says for a couple, but Lisanna only thought you had to just portray one not be the real thing.

"I-I'm sorry sir, but G-Gray and I are only guild mates. We're not actually...together." Sure he was attractive and all, plus she joined Mira's team for her sister's sake, but it was a simple moment in which Gray looked, in Cana's words, like one hot ass guy that started her job in spying and tailing for Mira.

"I'm terribly sorry for the confusion, I'll ask the management to prepare another room for you." Mr. Hansworth had honestly believed those two were together, they looked to be the perfect example of the age old saying that opposites attract.

"Uh, thanks...we'll see to it that everything goes on without a hitch." Gray spoke up, he too hadn't expected someone to quickly assume that he and Lisanna were an item.

The two mages bid farewell to the mayor and made their way towards the hotel they would be staying in, still feeling awkward at being viewed as a couple by the mayor. It was just the same once they made it to the hotel as they both took their things, bid farewell until the wedding and went into their separate rooms until the time would come. The ice mage had this sudden feeling to try and remedy the awkward silence between them sooner rather than later, but he'd need time to come up with a way to speak to her without it being weird.

"I'm sure the other's back home are doing something fun." He said to himself as he searched through his bag for the outfit he was going to wear.

* * *

"Finally you guys agreed to something!" Natsu exclaimed as each group had finally come to a conclusion of how they should deal with their ice mage.

"It's settled then, if you manage to get Gray to spend time with you when he gets back then we won't interfere at all." Mira said as the others nodded their agreement, all except Juvia who was fuming that she had to compete with the others to reach her Gray-sama first.

"I'm sure I'll get the stripper first." Gajeel claimed as the others turned to him with challenging stares, although a small cough from a petite blushing blunette drew their attention.

"I...umm, actually got Gray to spend time with me already after he completes his request." There was a consensus of silence from everyone before a squeal of delight came from Lucy.

"What!?" Was the response she got from everyone else as they stood from their seats, shocked by the fact that their bookworm was already a step ahead of them.

Erza quickly settled everyone down and made sure that they go about their daily business now that this was the end of the meeting. Obviously many people complained that they were beat to the punch, but they accepted it and helped Mira put back the chairs and tables. As they moved away, Erza had noticed Loke making his way over towards Freed, but she didn't have any idea as to why he'd be talking to him.

She would've gone to talk to him about this, but she soon remembered that Mira had an extra seat with her, which was the one she was already putting away. The red head needed to find out who her mystery partner was before her team was blind sided from getting to Gray, even if Levy got to him first. Erza needed to confront Mira about this, the she demon was capable of so many things thanks to her years of being a match maker.

"Mira I've been meaning to ask, but who was the empty seat for?" The question had earned her a look of slyness from Mira as she giggled sweetly.

"Oh, I accidentally placed one for Lisanna, but I forgot she was on a mission with Gray. Then again it's the thought that counts when thinking about my team mate." Instantly Erza had realized what Mira had in mind when she sent Lisanna to look after Gray, she set the whole thing up when she got the chance.

"Well played Mira, but don't think you've got an easy victory just yet." Erza replied giving the white haired barmaid one of her own challenging smiles.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from the Great Titania." She replied and a dark aura surrounded both woman, leaving many to walk away from them in fear of their own safety. Many turned glad once those two had parted ways and were going off to do their own thing.

 _ **"My Gray will be alright, there's no need to worry."**_ Erza thought to herself, yet she still felt that things weren't as well as she thought. Hopefully her ice mage wasn't doing something reckless like Natsu tends to do on requests.

* * *

Gray was laughing alongside the groom and his best man as they walked towards the church; the ice mage set up as his bodyguard for the reception, although the groom was having cold feet before they left his home. He felt very nervous about getting married so the ravenette started talking to him and cracking a couple of jokes to lighten him up. The best man had come to get him and all three began telling jokes as they walked, putting the nervous groom at ease once they made it to the church. Gray bid him good luck and took his place at one side of the building as a look out, since Lisanna was taking the other just as they planned.

The reception had finished without interruption, not a single threat to be spotted on either mage's side. Gray had believed that they only needed to attend the wedding party only, but Lisanna had informed him that the entire ceremony could be in danger so they opted to go to both. Nevertheless, Gray agreed and did his part, but he quickly congratulated the happy couple before rushing off towards his room to get his suit off. He found the thing somewhat constricting and was glad to be back in his original clothes. He waited for Lisanna to get back and changed, so they could discuss the next phase of what they were going to do. Once she arrived and was back in her regular clothes, Gray had came into her room, but the white haired mage was a little too happy after the wedding and decided to tell Gray about the couples' past.

Apparently Jessie, the bride, was the degenerate's leader's girlfriend for quite some time, before she couldn't take it anymore. Her life was going nowhere, the guy was nothing but an abusive prick that seemed to care for only her body, and she wanted to start fresh again in her hometown. He became pissed, beat her for a bit and left to go drinking and causing chaos, which is where she took the chance to escape and head into town looking for a place to stay until she could get herself straight. At this point she had met Christopher, the mayor's son, who decided to take her in and help her out with what she needed. Through the following year since her escape they had become good friends, but the crew of degenerate's had begun harassing the town more often now that they discovered where she was residing.

Life continued for the two, until Christopher and Jessie got together as a couple to which the attacks had become much more violent and some people were becoming concerned. They didn't call for help from local guilds, since their own law enforcement was capable of handling them and the extra help from rune knights that came across the town helped them get by. Christopher finally asked the big question and Jessie happily agreed after chalking up to three years of being together and a number of attacks on the town. Contact for assistance from local guilds came around when a few days prior to the wedding the attacks had now consisted of magic as well and the mayor began to fear for the safety of the townspeople. Lisanna ended it on that note, but she still claimed it to be a good love story about a girl who's lost her way and begins anew with the help of a caring guy.

 _ **"A lot like Mira that's for sure."**_ Gray joked inwardly, amused that they sure do share so many traits with each other. "Helps shed light on the matter at least, so we're dealing with an ex-boyfriend feeling betrayed and doesn't want her to be happy."

"That sounds right to me, sad truth, but it may sum up why those degenerates keep coming after this town. What I don't get is where did they learn magic?" It was a troubling question to know that they figured a way to use magic and are prepared to fully use it against a town without a single mage.

"It's much more likely that their previous threats were being brushed off to stop the wedding, so their now resorting in an "all-or-nothing" stand off." Gray replied, giving his own hypothesis on the crew's actions.

"Then we're better off securing the area to make sure there's no way for them to get in and make our way inside the hall to keep a look out." Lisanna said forming their strategy of defending both the newly weds and the guests.

"I'm impressed Lisanna, I didn't know you were good at coming up with defensive strategies like that." Gray said as he didn't take the white haired mage for a strategist.

"O-Oh, thank you...It was a useful thing back in Edolas when we were about to be attacked by the royal guards." Lisanna could feel a blush forming from the compliment and hoped the mage wouldn't notice it of all things. Not that it helped that he stripped his shirt off. "Gray your shirt"

"Whoops, sorry about that Lisanna. Anyways, I gave it some thought and your plan will work good for us. We'll just get rested up for now and make sure to arrive early so we could get a start on securing the building." Gray said as he got off the wall he was leaning on and said his good bye for the meantime.

The white haired girl let out a sigh as she could finally relax, sure she still had her sights set on Natsu, but being alone with a guy who rivals his body type was tiring. Hopefully she could get through this night and figure something out for Mira, she did agree to find out his opinions of the girls. For now she'd take some time to cool down, relax for a bit and get her clothes prepared for the wedding party.

A few hours had passed and the sun was close to setting, Lisanna had finished getting ready and waited for the ice mage to arrive at her door. She truly wondered how good Gray would look in a suit up close, since she didn't get a chance to see him at the reception. Her mind drew a mental image of the ice mage and quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts, this wasn't the time for to fantasize about Gray and why him all of a sudden? She needed to clear her head from those thoughts so she decided to pass the time by double checking if everything looked alright.

Lisanna wore a sky blue strapless dress, lightly dazzled around her bosom with silver beads, that reached just a bit below her thighs. Her ruffles were neat and swayed evenly as she turned and a black sash went across her waist, held together on her left side by a white flower pin. She completed her attire with a pair of heels which gave a bonus to her figure, giving her an air of a model's beauty. She smiled at her reflection, pleased by the way she looked and was glad that Mira had given a few tips and suggestions before she left for the request. Not long after she was through with her mental checklist there was a knock at her door and she quickly answered it, just for her to momentarily stare at the eye candy, I mean man in front of her.

Gray stood at the door wearing a black tuxedo, completely pressed and lint free with an added rose to his blazer's upper chest pocket. A smile plastered on his face as he waited for his partner to say something while she on the other hand was close to drooling.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." He said jokingly trying to make sure they didn't build up another awkward situation like they did back in the mayor's office. Lisanna snapped right out of her stupor, increasingly blushing with each passing second.

"I wasn't staring!" She tried to defend herself although it clearly wasn't working and hid her burning cheeks behind her hands, turning to avoid facing him. Gray chuckled to himself before patting her head gently.

"Sure you weren't, don't worry you look great too." He said in an attempt to calm her down, but even he was still feeling weird about the whole couple act he had to do with her.

"Thank you" Lisanna replied shyly turning back to look at him as the pink tint wasn't going to leave her face anytime soon.

"You're welcome. Now shall we go my lady?" Gray asked as he out stretched his hand to her, gotta play the part as best you could you know.

Taking his hand Lisanna nodded and off they went together to the carriage waiting for them outside, courtesy of the mayor. The duo looked on upon all the decorations the streets had for this special occasion and Lisanna had a bright smile on her face admiring the beauty. This unconsciously brought a smile onto Gray's face as it had been some time since he's felt at peace without having to worry about the other things on his mind. From the corner of her eye, Lisanna had noticed the smile on his face and wondered what brought that there.

"Why are you smiling Gray?" She asked as Gray slightly stiffened before he relaxed once again.

"I'm just feeling at peace, you know?" He replied, Lisanna seeing a new side of him for the first time.

She's never really seen a Gray that looked untroubled before, he's always worn a face of someone that has too much on their mind at all times. _Thump_ went her heart as heat slowly crept up to her cheeks; she couldn't help feeling fuzzy from looking at him. An interesting feeling towards someone she was barely getting to know.

The two sat in a companionable atmosphere making small talk here and there while they rode along to the party. Their trip didn't last too long for them and thankfully they made it in time to have a first sweep of the area before going inside. The party was being held at a large hall, that seemed to be more of a ball room, often used to host many large events and parties, so it took them some time to make sure there wasn't any suspicious activity going around or places for someone to secretly enter through. With nothing to note as suspicious the pair went in and enjoyed the party while keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

A few hours into the celebration Lisanna decided to have a little fun and dance the waltz that the musicians began to play. Every so quickly she grabbed Gray by the arm and dragged him to the dance floor as many other couples began to take part as well. The ice mage didn't want to, especially now that he's trying his hardest not to strip in front of all these people.

"Come on Gray this will be fun!" Lisanna said happily at the awkward standing ice mage who passed a hand through his hair.

"I don't dance Lisanna, I'm sure you know that already." Gray said as his hands were making their way to remove his jacket, but were stopped when two smaller and softer hands took hold of them.

"Don't worry about it Gray, just focus on me and I'm sure you'll do fine." She said kindly before the music began and she placed Gray's hands properly in place while she did the same. Though stiff and awkward he moved in the beginning, Gray had managed to mellow out and move just as well as Lisanna did. Unknown to the two, many of the spectators had begun complimenting the two wizards as they danced along with the tune.

"So I've got to ask." Lisanna began as Gray looked down at her, his dark eyes meeting her bright ones.

"Alright, what do you need to ask me?" He responded keeping pace of the movement of his steps as they continued to dance, thankful that his hands stayed in place rather than removing his clothing without his knowledge.

"Throughout this whole time that we've been here you haven't stripped as much as you do when you're at the guild." She said as he twirled her around before placing his hands again in the right place.

"So you want me to strip, is that it?" Gray sarcastically remarked causing Lisanna to develop a pink tint to her cheeks as she playfully slapped his arm.

"No you pervert, I was just wondering why is all." She said sticking her tongue at him, which he chuckled at.

"I'm not a perv and to be honest, I'm trying pretty hard not to. You're sister would kill me if I were stripping with you so close to me." He replied stifling his chuckling at how true those words were.

"Mira-nee has her way of being very protective of her siblings, but what about when you hardly strip with some of the other girls?" She asked as he gave it some thought since the question had come out of no where.

"I'm most likely comfortable around them that I don't feel agitated or bothered. It's got to do with my nerves or something that makes me strip" He replied to her, until something caught his eye from across the room. "I'm going to turn us around so you can have a better look at a group of men near the bar counter." Gray whispered to her as he fully turned them so Lisanna could see.

"They look like waiters, what's wrong with them?" Lisanna asked as they danced their way closer to them.

"When's the last time you saw a waiter put a magic pistol into their vest?" Gray had caught the shine of the magical weapon before it was stored away, coming to the conclusion that the crew they were after had disguised themselves.

Shots soon rang within the building as the weapons were soon drawn, the main security beaten to unconsciousness which left Lisanna and Gray as the last line of defense. The townspeople began to panic, but were all drawn together into the center as the newly weds were still at their table; Christopher standing to defend his wife as she held his hand. More shots were fired before the main doors burst open to reveal a gruff looking man, clad in leather accompanied by three more of his henchmen. Gray grabbed Lisanna close to him to make sure that they could devise a plan to make sure no one would get hurt except for the crew.

"Hello ladies and gents, my name's Marco, but all of you could refer to me as the Psychonaut. These nice gentlemen with the party favors are my crew, the Berserkers." His crew began to laugh or shoot their weapons, scaring more of the party guests. "This is such a nice party, it's too bad me and my boys weren't invited though; especially for the fact that the bride use to ride with us." Psychonaut made his way towards the table while he let his men loot his captives for whatever they had.

"I left that life behind me Marco, this is my new life!" Jessie held her husband's hand tighter as her ex kept walking towards them.

"Oh don't say that babe, you're still mine and you know it. Now let go of this sorry excuse of a man and come back with me." Christopher stood in his way from reaching her, both men having a stare off before Psychonaut sent a powerful blow straight into the man's chest.

Christopher fell to his knees, trying his best to regain all of his wind that had been knocked out of him, but Psychonaut wasn't done yet. Grabbing his face, the vile man was prepared to knee the grooms face until he was stopped by a new voice.

"Don't you dare lay another hand on him! If you want to fight someone, fight me!" Gray spoke up as he stood from the kneeling crowd, making sure that no one was around him that could get hurt.

"You're actually challenging me? You're just a nobody riding on his imaginary high horse, but I'll give you credit for bravery kid." Psychonaut sarcastically remarked as the rest of his men laughed. "Or is it stupidity? Doesn't matter really, since I'll reward you with an instant death for your chivalry."

"Go ahead, give me your best shot." Gray was taunting him, hopefully the guy would fall for it or else he had to improvise.

"No problem..." With that, Gray was pierced with a flaming shot that came from Psychonaut's finger as he laughed at his foolish opponent. "Shouldn't have messed with fire kid."

Many of the party attendants were in shock was the young man was hit, his body crashing towards the ground as they witnessed the first of quite possibly a series of deaths. Many were prepared to hear the thud of a body, but instead they heard what sounded like a mirror shattering. They turned to see the young man's body break away into millions of pieces until there was nothing left, leaving them fearful that the despicable man's magic may have the same effect on them.

"Now Lisanna!" The shout resonated from everywhere until everyone saw a girl with wings and bird talon's scoop up the bride.

Lisanna had managed to slip away from view and waited for Gray's signal so she could use her bird soul and rescue Jessie. Now that she was out of the way, there was still the need to get Christopher and the others out of here without getting hurt. Hopefully she provided enough of a distraction for Gray to get into place.

Her hopes were right as she noticed the igloo surrounding the guests and the small cocoon around the groom, now that all the bases were covered they could get rid of these guys. She immediately transformed into her tigress form and attacked as many foes as she could, remembering to disarm them before they could get the upper hand on her.

"Well the old man finally saw us as the threat were are if he called in help from guilds. Too bad we've got to make sure you two go back in body bags." Psychonaut said as he began to fire at Lisanna's directions, but his attack was stopped when an ice shield formed in its path.

"This is how it's going to go down; I kick your ass, we send you and your "boys" to jail and the happy couple plus the town live in peace." Gray said landing right beside Lisanna, already in his casting stance as an icy mist surrounded him.

"Gray where are your clothes?" Lisanna asked as her partner was naked from the waist up, while he simply smirked down at her.

"I didn't want to get my suit dirty." The ice mage replied as Lisanna sighed to herself, knowing that was something she should've expected.

"If you truly want to die than by all means come at me. Get ready because I'm fired up now!" Psychonaut exclaimed as he lit his fists on fire, finally getting some real action for once.

 _ **"Geez, do all fire mages use that pink idiot's catch phrase or what?"**_ Gray thought as he got ready for his second wedding showdown.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Ugh! Man I'm not the best at writing people's clothing_ _descriptions or fight scenes so this is the best I could do, hopefully it was alright with all of you. On another note, it's nice to know you all finished the chapter to be reading this and I'd like to ask a question for anyone who hasn't answered it already. It's from the last chapter in the second author's note so stick around if you haven't seen it or you just don't want to go back to the previous chapter. If you have and given me an answer than thank you and enjoy the rest of your day/evening. Anyways, here's the question..._

 _After Gray has returned from the request and his little date with Levy, what character(s) do you want me to pair Gray up with for a bit before the ending?_

 _Like before keep in mind that I already have ending pairings done, but I'll do my best on your choice(s) for who Gray's time will be spent with before Loke finds a way to save his best wing man. PM me for the characters or write it in your review, whichever you wish to do._ _(P.S. I'm not that big of a Gruvia fan, but if that's what the readers want than I'll swallow my pride and write a chapter on it.) Once again, thanks for reading everyone!_


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note** **:** _Hey everybody I'm back~! Now before you throw the closest things at your disposal, let me explain myself a bit. I've not been able to update due to my finals for my courses, but now that they're over I got the chance to finish this chapter. To make it up for my inactivity, this will be a special double update. That's right, you great readers will get two chapters to read! So let's get on with this chapter, review and enjoy! (P.S. I'm not so great at fight scenes, please forgive me!)_

* * *

Chapter 16

"Lisanna look out!" Gray called out as a fireball was thrown her way, luckily the heads up allowed her enough time to dodge and let the man she was fighting get struck by it instead.

From the twenty or so Berserkers that came along with Psychonaut, barely a fourth of them still stood; however, the problem the Fairy Tailers were having with the remaining enemies were the ones would could wield magic. From what they had seen, Psychonaut and his crew mainly used fire magic as their choice leading Gray to assume that they chose to specialize in it for its destructive capabilities. Which was the main concern for both Lisanna and Gray since it could get out of hand and the building could be set on fire.

"Come on boys! You're the best ones of the crew, so don't let these Fairy wimps escape with their lives!" Psychonaut wasn't really amused for the fact that over half his crew was already knocked out; a good portion from a big boobed tiger girl and the rest from an ice piece of shit who wouldn't stand still. Friendly fire was something his boys should've known, then they would've dodged when he miss- purposely misfired instead of getting hit.

Lisanna had managed to get the drop on another one of his crew, effectively taking him down but had to side step when another fireball was chucked her way. She was thankful that Gray was putting out whatever fires were lit with his magic as he circled around with his ice blades to bring down the mage that fired at her. In no time flat he stood right next to her, his aura misting around them as the chill cooled her heating body.

"Ring of Fire time boys!" Psychonaut commanded, although the Fairies couldn't track where his voice came from.

They concentrated on the threat at hand as the last of the Berserkers stood in a complete circle around them, trapping them from escape with flames building with their palms. Both the ice wizard and animal soul mage recognized this as an "all attack" strategy where they'd shoot at them from all sides, while they were stuck in the middle.

"Got any ideas Gray? They've got us cornered." Lisanna knew that dodging was out of the question, their bodies have done enough of that and were close to their limit.

"I just came up with one, but saving our skins comes first!" Gray exclaimed as he drew Lisanna closer to his body right as the Berserkers extended their arms to fire. "Ice Make: Cocoon!"

Immediately a cocoon formed around the mages as a shied to protect them both from the volley of fire magic, the sharp jagged exterior providing extra defense in case they tried to come closer. But a whole different problem was happening inside, concerning a certain ice mage's bare skin and Lisanna's "assets" too close to one another. If the animal soul mage wasn't already red in the face from exhaustion than she was now since she hadn't expected to be this close to Gray. Said mage cursed to himself for not at least trying to make the cocoon bigger on the inside than it usually is, along with the few indecent thoughts that spawned in his mind. Don't judge him, even if his blood runs colder than others he's still a slightly warm blooded man nonetheless.

"Sorry about that Lisanna, this thing's usually made for one." Gray spoke up as the white haired girl refrained from looking up at him and he was glad she wasn't moving too much.

"T-That's okay Gray, s-so what's the plan you came up with?" Lisanna replied nervously as her skin felt defined muscles from another man that wasn't her brother or Natsu.

"Right, are you familiar with how Cat's Cradle looks like?" He asked as the young Strauss nodded her head in confirmation. "Good since I'll use most of the magic I have left to create the intricate design and you use it towards your advantage to take the rest of these bastards down."

"You think I could do it on my own?"

"If I didn't trust my guild mate to be tougher than these low end thugs, than I would've thought up another plan to use instead." Gray smirked to her as the resounding thump of Lisanna's heart rang in her ears, hearing that Gray had a great amount of trust in her.

"Alright, let's do it!" With boosted determination set up, Lisanna prepared herself for Gray to cast his spell.

"Ice Make: Cat's Cradle!" The cocoon's jagged exterior shot out into multiple directions missing the Berserker thugs purposely, while entrapping them all in their own separate space whereupon Gray added another cradle above it so they couldn't fire another volley.

Once the design was completed, Lisanna sprang into action going for the closest thug trapped in his own pen. She nimbly used the cradle to move from space to space as a form of leverage, going between the open spaces of both cradle's that allowed her a view of her opponent's mid-drift. With the confusion already set in place, her speed and agility plus the amount of room each entrapped placement gave for her to attack, the young Strauss easily out matched the remaining Berserkers.

By the sound of the last thug hitting the floor, Gray had dropped the spell and was thoroughly impressed yet again by the white haired girl's prowess. He had both faith and trust in each of his comrades in their abilities, so he knew that Lisanna was very capable in following through with the plan. He watched as she made her way over to him smiling triumphantly for a job well done, although he knew it wasn't over yet.

"We did it Gray!" Lisanna cheered, however the angered shout drew their attention towards the main table.

"You piece of shits may have beaten my boys, but so long as I can take my bitch back I can start all over again!" Gray grit his teeth as he saw Psychonaut forcefully holding Jessie in his grasp, her face stained in tears from the pain his grip was giving her.

"Why you son of-" Gray was about to charge at him, but stopped when the vile man lit his palm with flames.

"Not so fast Ice Boy...Make another move and she gets a couple of nasty burns I won't mind her having." He grinned maliciously at them, all the while Jessie was pleading for them to save her.

Gray was at an impasse, he was fairly low on magic as it was and he knew Lisanna was tired out from everything she had done. They couldn't sneak around him before he burned her and it was too dangerous to try and attack him at range since there was the possibility that he would hit Jessie. Gray was trying his hardest to come up with a plan that didn't have a major consequence as a result, but everything was being shot down as he gave it thorough thought. His thoughts immediately vanished as the sound of an explosion drew him out, he looked around for what made it until he laid eyes upon Psychonaut again.

The ice mage saw the vile man's face contort in pain before he released his grip on Jessie and fell face forward onto the ground. Both Fairy Tailers watched as Christopher walked his way up to be seen with a magic pistol in his hand, quickly hugging his crying wife to comfort her.

"What kind of man would I be if I don't defend the woman I love?" Christopher spoke out loud, feeling much easier now that his wife was in his arms again looking at the mages coming up to him.

"Is he...?" Lisanna spoke up, pointing to the downed Psychonaut's form, while Christopher dropped the pistol onto the ground.

"Dead? No, just in serious pain." He replied as the mages looked at him questioningly. "I managed to calibrate the pistol so it fires more of a concussive magic round than a lethal one."

"Not bad, but we're sorry that your party's ruined." Gray said as he dispelled the igloo protecting the guests, which drew away most of his magic during the melee.

"That's okay, so long as everyone's safe than we're fine with it." Jessie replied as she managed to calm down, still holding onto her husband.

"We should be thanking you two, we're glad that Fairy Tail sent a pair of great mages to protect us." Christopher added as Lisanna smiled in response and Gray gave one of his winning smirks.

Now that the excitement had calmed down, many party guests began to help clean up the damages along with Gray and Lisanna. Luckily for them the local healer and doctor had attended they part, so their wounds were tended to and Gray tied up the nasty crew and their leader up. As for them, Mr. Hansworth had informed the Fairy Tailers that he managed to get in contact with Rune Knight outpost that could swing by and take them away for imprisonment. All-in-all, the town helped each other out with what's left and decided to end the night like that with the ice mage giving one final toast to the new married couple.

With a few more words spoken to the couple and with the mayor, the tired mages set out back towards their hotel rooms ready to get some nicely deserved rest. Although, they had to wait for a bit longer for Lisanna to get redressed into something else since her dress had gotten ruined during the fight. It took some time, but one of the local girls had brought her some clothes that were close to her size for her to change into. Finally with new clothes on, the opposite colored hair duo set out back towards their hotel rooms with a casual stroll to pass the time.

"Sorry about the dress Lisanna, guess the flames singed it pretty good." Gray had felt slightly responsible that her dress was ruined, he believed that he could've done a better job at defending her.

"It's alright Gray, I could always get another one." She held the ruined dress in her arms, slightly shaking from the cold air of the night.

"Just make sure Mira doesn't think I put you through too much of the line of fire, okay?" Gray joked as he wrapped his blazer over Lisanna's shoulders. "Plus you've got to remember to bring something to keep you warm next time."

"I'll remember to bring one next time Snowball." Lisanna replied and instantly fell silent as she uttered that nickname, full knowing how Gray hardly enjoys being called names.

"Snowball?" Gray's heard of so many different names thrown at him that he's felt like he's heard them all, but being called a snowball was a first.

"It's nothing G-Gray, just a nickname I called Surge back in Edolas. You know...because he looks like a snowball and...he's always cold." The white haired mage's voice began to drop to a whisper from her first few words to her last, completely embarrassed by the fact that she casually thought of him like the close friendship she had with Surge.

"Hmph, that's a good one although if you're going to do that I might as well call you Lis or something in return." Much to Lisanna's surprise, Gray took it pretty well instead of getting offended or angry like she was expecting him to become.

"Wait, you're not upset?" She was curious to know why Gray was alright with it, rather than reacting the way he does when Natsu's the one saying it.

"Why would I be? I know that you're a nice person who wouldn't insult just about anyone, let alone one of your own guild mates. Besides it was just the slip of the tongue, right?"

Gray left her speechless as she had no words of reply to him, completely unprepared to know how much Gray is aware of a person's traits. She walked with wonder, questioning why Mira had sent her on this mission now that she could sum up that Gray probably knew what she was trying to do from the start of their train ride here. If anything, her mission to extract information was a failure from the start; however, Lisanna didn't feel bothered that she couldn't accomplish it. Instead it felt like she was learning a few new things from the ice mage beside her that maybe not many people knew about.

Now that she knew the plan wouldn't work anymore, she still talked to him as they walked back to the hotel about different things avoiding the subject about the nickname. Lisanna always held the belief that Gray was someone who needed time to warm up to another person, but to see him easily talk with her and joke around casted that belief away. The one thing that came up into her mind was how she was going to act knowing that her own sister had a crush with the mage right beside her. Although Lisanna was accustomed to seeing a love struck Gray for so long, seeing one who was much more silent, rarely showed emotion and was much harder to get to open up was an interesting change of pace.

Nevertheless things went back to how they were and the two were about to part ways for the night once they got back to the hotel, but Gray wanted to end the night celebrating so he got himself a couple of shots before calling it a night. Lisanna, being the best caretaker besides her sister, went along with the ice mage, but avoided any alcohol and decided to get herself something fizzy. Gray on the other hand called for something stronger after the first three were a little on the mild side compared to what he usually got, so when it arrived for the eighth time Lisanna decided to intervene.

"Alright Gray, even I know your tolerance for alcohol isn't as great as Cana's." The young Strauss said as she supported the unbalanced mage back to his room.

"What would I do without you Lis?" Gray slurred slightly while trying to balance himself so the white haired girl didn't need to support him so much.

"Fall asleep in the hotel's bar counter after getting drunk?" Lisanna said as he began to chuckle at her claim, completely off his rocker and riding the sweet drunken bliss he had going for him.

"You're a good *hic* girl you know that." Gray drunkenly remarked as the two slowly made their way up the stairs with a few other guests giving her a few sympathetic smiles, understanding in their own way of the girl's job at the moment. "...So I'm gonna tell ya a piece of advice."

"Sure Gray, I'm listening." Lisanna had a feeling that it had to do with what guys like or the other, something she usually heard Wakaba and Macao talk about when they're like this.

"Don't give up..." Three simple words he said and yet Lisanna was confused as to what he meant, but before she could ask him anything he continued. "I'm not b-blind to how you truly feel about the dense pink headed moron, *hic* so keep trying. You're one of the best things to happen to him, so don't get *hic* disheartened and give it your all."

"Thanks Gray I really appreciate it." Lisanna was embarrassed to know that he made it sound like she was very obvious, but she was grateful to hear encouraging words from the person who was close to Natsu; like a brother the dragon slayer always wanted to fight with.

Before she realized it they both stood in front of his room and with a little more awkward movements as the walked inside, Lisanna had managed to sit Gray down on his bed. After what they've been through, she believed that a night's rest is something they both deserved before heading back to the guild. Though an idea had popped into her mind before she exited his room, one that she believed could help her complete the mission she thought was uncompletable.

"Hey Gray, what do you...what do you think about the other girls? Like Erza or Cana or even Mira-nee?" The white haired mage was riding on the hope that Gray would drunkenly answer her, she knew it wasn't nice to take advantage of someone in his position, but she was all out of options at this point.

" *hic* Weird thing to ask, but whatever." Gray replied as he made himself comfortable on his bed. "They're special, I don't *hic* really know how to put it into words, but they're much closer to me than most people in the guild."

 _ **"It's something at least"**_ Lisanna thought to herself as this would be the closest she'd get on info for her sister, even though she asked for those three instead of asking about the other girls too.

"B-But you shouldn't be concerned with me *hic*, more like think about yourself this time around." Gray spoke up, but Lisanna could already tell that he was slowly falling asleep as he turned to the other side instead of facing her.

"What do you mean?" She was confused about what he was saying, did he mean that she's supposed to think about herself over others or something like it?

"This is your second chance Lis, make it count..." Gray lowly replied as he faded into deep sleep, while Lisanna was trying to figure out what he really meant by his words.

She wrapped her head around it before she came to the realization that he was talking about Natsu and how this was her chance to be with him. It surprised her that the ice mage was rooting for her in his own way, as if he knew that she did have the chance that Natsu would return her feelings after so long. She had her own fears that he moved on to someone else like Lucy since they were inseparable, but Gray was pushing her to try. She was about to thank the raven haired mage for his confidence in her, until she heard light snoring coming from him and came to the conclusion that he fell asleep while she was trying to figure things out.

"Thank you Gray." She whispered lightly and from out of the moment she lightly kissed his cheek, quickly rushing right out of his room after.

The animal soul mage rushed into her room, her heart beating against her chest either from her quick dash to her room or from the incident earlier. She slowly sat herself down on her bed and waited for her heart to settle, trying her hardest to calm herself from what she did. She kept reminding herself that it was another way for repaying his kindness, although it would take some time before she would finally go to sleep. Her last thoughts being that she kissed him to repay his kindness and nothing more, hopefully.

The next morning, Gray and Lisanna had come to the mayor's office to collect their reward and give their goodbyes to the couple before they left. Gray had gone ahead to clear up a few things with the mayor before they head off, while Lisanna spoke with the couple for a bit longer. If the ice mage was still around during that time, he would've heard the couple tell Lisanna that they'd be sending them a lacrima copy of their wedding party. Of course Lisanna had accepted it, she herself wanted to have something to remember this place by; however she didn't know how Gray would feel but decided that he'd also be fine with it.

With a few more goodbyes the two Fairy Tailers set out for the guild, making idle chatter as they rode the train back to Magnolia. For all the requests Gray's done before, this one had a good blend of some relaxation and action for him. A good way to catch a break from what he's been going through, but that wouldn't last for long. Lisanna on the other hand was pleased with how their request went, yet she had wished she did a little better with her personal mission rather than getting a tid bit of info on three people. Nonetheless the experience was good over all and she hoped that her little action would get lost in the recesses of her memories somewhere down the road, but for now she made friendly chatter with the ice mage.

* * *

For a pair of guild mates that hardly got the chance to speak with one another they sure got accustomed to one another, which came as a surprise to see Gray chuckling alongside Lisanna from one of her jokes as they walked inside the guild. It was surprising for many other members that the ice mage was actually laughing at something that didn't involve an insult to Natsu or his pain at the hands of Erza. Even so, there was still the emergence of jealous stares from those who saw Lisanna as someone who was getting too close to their Gray, but it had little effect on the young Strauss compared to her older sister's knowing smile that even had Gray on his toes.

"Welcome back you two, I guess the request went well?" Mira asked as they approached the bar counter, Gray taking a seat a stool away from Lisanna for safety reasons of course. He was in the presence of a protective demon after all.

"It went very well Mira-nee, it was a fun experience going with Gray." Lisanna replied as Gray nodded his head in agreement, hoping that Mira wouldn't think that he did something indecent to her younger sister. He knows he's innocent, but being marked as a stripper has pegged him with doubts from some people.

"That's good to hear, oh and Gray..." Mira said in sweet tone that sent a tingle down Gray's spine, one of her ultimate ways of scaring him shitless only comparable by Erza's commanding tone that is.

"Y-Yes Mira?" He tried to play it cool, but he was slightly shaking in his socks as she looked over at him, since his boots were lying right next to his stuff near the door.

"Levy asked me to send you over to her table when you'd come back, something about a promise you made to her or a da-"

"Right, thanks Mira!" Gray interrupted her before she could finish her sentence, wanting to make sure that no one else would catch onto his plans with Levy. He always questioned why the day goes by so slowly for him when he gets involved with someone, seriously it's barely eleven thirty and now he has to go and fulfill his "date" with Levy.

The ice mage made his way over to her table, only to take into account that his entire team was sitting with her and the air couldn't get anymore thicker for him. If he were to ever get through this in one piece, he had to act normally and hope that things with Lucy and Erza are alright. As far as Natsu goes, it was a blazing grenade that he was cautious to get close to in case things explode into a cloud of awkwardness. As far as it goes, he just had to talk to Levy, get the details and get through it without worrying Lucy, having Erza suspecting him and Natsu do something the ravenette had no idea of happening.

"Hey Levy, Mira said you needed to see me as soon as I got back?" Gray casually walked up to her, waving his hand at everyone, although he missed eye contact with the pink haired mage still unsure of how he should even react to him.

Lucy had caught on to how Gray purposely avoided eye contact with Natsu and could only feel sorry for her best friend, understanding that Gray was not acting wrongfully towards Natsu. Rather he was acting like anyone should be after someone they've known forces themselves on you, yet the blonde didn't want to see this continue. Erza had a similar thought as Lucy and as for Natsu he still felt hurt that Gray wouldn't look at him in the eye, but he remembered what the girls had told him and was grateful that he even came this close to the table at all.

"Yeah I did, the book club's meeting has been moved to today and I was wondering if you could still be able to go." Levy said, she too had no idea of the schedule change and was slightly miffed that it had been moved much sooner than she anticipated.

"Sure it's no problem, but do ya think there's still time for me to drop my things off?" He's still got energy in him and Gray was fairly sure that the hangover he was feeling in the early parts of the morning has managed to subside.

"Sure, it doesn't start for another hour and a half so you've got time Gray." Levy was silently happy that he was still willing to go even on short notice, not to mention the rest of Team E.L.L.N. was glad that the advantage was still theirs.

"Good, I'll see you then Levy. Later." _"I hope I get to see you more when it's just the two of us also."_ The beautified Gray added making Levy blush into her hands as the ice mage began to make his way out of the guild, putting his boots back on as he was getting his stuff.

"Well done Levy, we still hold Gray with us. Now that we know who we're up against, we must be weary of those who are most likely to take Gray when our backs are turned." Erza said while she kept an eye around their surroundings, cautious of those seeking a victory over them.

"She's right, make sure to keep the ice statue with you so we can have him to ourselves!" Natsu was still feeling blue after what happened, but moping around wouldn't help him hold onto his new interest at all. He needed to act and accept what happened in the past so he could fix things up in the present and future.

"We're right behind you Levy-chan, give it your best alright." Lucy pitched in her supportive words to her best friend, knowing that Levy was a very capable young woman given her size and standing in the guild.

"Don't worry everyone, I'll give it my all and won't let Team E.L.L.N. down either." This was her time, after all those hours they spent at that meeting it was time that she acted. Internally hoping she could get things to go her way with the ever so calm ice mage, alas only time would tell.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:** _Here it is everyone, the second chapter for the double update special. We are getting close to the ending now and I do feel like adding more drama concerning some of the girls, but that will all be in due time. This was also an almost completed chapter alongside 16 before my finals came around so it will serve as the gate to the beginning of this fic's end(sadly). If there are still some of you who wish to see a pairing done before the end, than speak now or forever hold your peace. So this basically is a last chance for you to pick who Gray gets to spend some time with. As always review and enjoy the chapter! Oh and Happy Holidays to all of you! (Just in case I don't get the chance to upload anything later!)_

* * *

Chapter 17

"You know I've never been to a book club before, so this'll be a first for me." Gray had managed to get himself ready within the time frame and walked alongside Levy as they made their way towards the library.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy it Gray, we do some things differently compared to regular book clubs." Levy was excited to see how things would turn out, since this was her "date" with Gray after all, which many people at the meeting were shocked about.

The ice mage was much more at ease with Levy around, since his worries mainly centered around his entire team. How had his normal everyday life with them change so much in less than a week? At least Wendy wasn't acting differently and now with him spending some time with his other guild mates it also gives him some time to himself. Even so, he was still weary about them and made sure his focus stayed in line with what he was doing in the present moment. Speaking of which, he had noticed how happy Levy seemed to be with a bounce to her step as well.

He found it quite amusing to see the petite bluenette be a bundle of joy on their way to her book club, like a kid in a candy store. She spoke about the various things they've done and how each member is given turns to do one thing they choose with everyone also, according to her, it wasn't a dull moment when they got together. The ice mage's interest peaked at the thought of what a group of avid readers that are just like Levy would do when they came together, there could even be the chance that he would find it entertaining as well.

One thing she was enthusiastic about mentioning was the book they were all reading; _The Princess' Keeper_. A novel about a normal count living on his province, with great skills no one is aware of, becoming a valuable asset when captured on the battlefield to a warrior princess whose life solely consisted of battle and rarely got to experience other emotions that make a person whole. A romantic and adventure genre type of book if Gray was correct.A classic to many who delve into the world of literature, Gray being no exception since he's sure that he's read the book before and has a copy in his library.

It was a good read in his opinion, although he couldn't quite remember what exactly happens throughout the story as a whole. To be honest, the ravenette was interested to see how other people would react to the story and how they viewed the events that had happened. He would actually get the chance now since the entire conversation had brought them to the front of the library, Levy already waving a hello to Micheal as she passed his desk and went into the area that held the back rooms.

"I'll catch up to you in a bit Levy." Gray called as he heard the faint "okay" in reply before he turned to look at his old friend who stood with a happy smile.

"Welcome back Gray, what brings you here this time? Something that involves Levy I'm sure." Micheal wouldn't say that he was against seeing him with Levy, but it sure did bring him an internal happiness to see him spend time with a person he wouldn't hand over to his guild mate Loke later on. Yeah, Loke's pretty well known throughout Magnolia.

"She invited me to her book club and I took her up on the offer." Gray replied as he leaned against the desk counter.

"I'm sure you two will be doing other things right after too, and so it sounds to me that she asked you on a date Gray. Here I thought you'd be the man and ask her." Micheal teased as Gray jerked forward from being found out, he thought he could play it smooth and say that he agreed to come along and nothing else.

"S-Shut up" Gray's best come back at the moment, but what could he say? "Could you just tell where to go since I don't really know the back area so good."

Micheal gave a short chuckle before replying to him. "Just go through the main door heading for the back of the library and make a left. It should be the fourth door you come across."

"Geez, this place is a lot bigger than I thought..." Gray commented before he went off, hearing Micheal say "Believe me, it sure is," or something along those lines.

* * *

While Gray stayed behind to speak with Micheal, Levy had gone ahead towards the usual meeting room and the bounce in her step never left. She entered to see her fellow readers finish setting up the chair circle, smiling while saying their hellos to the bluenette who set another chair besides hers. They were a regular bunch, mostly girls who were like Levy and Lucy with the exception that they couldn't wield magic. For Levy though, they were new girls compared to her original group of friends that had all grown up, married and had families of their own now.

There were a few who would come by and partake when they had the time and Levy was always happy to see them. Although she was slightly saddened at times when she remembered that they used to be girls her own age, with only their part time jobs and books to talk about with each other before the bluenette was trapped for seven years on Tenrou Island. In a way, Levy could say that the feeling of missing out and growing up alongside her friends was something that Gray had felt with Micheal and his father; he too stayed his regular age when they got trapped while the people he knew grew older and continued their lives.

Levy quickly let those memories fade away and try to be her upbeat self so she could introduced her friends to one of the most interesting people she has encountered and yet she knew him for years. It was one thing that they were all like her, but for them to meet someone who has a greater and broader sense for literature would be a treat for them and she was the one that had him all to herself.

"Hey girls, I've brought someone along with me again!" She called out while the others nodded their head in acknowledgment.

They knew how Levy was when she invited a guest to come along, usually it was her blonde friend Lucy who they got along with extremely well since she had explained that she was dabbling in writing. They didn't mind her at all and gave her tips to how she should write and where to keep focus on, but then there was the other person she would invite that the group had mixed opinions about. The girls were understanding when Levy would bring the intimidating guild mate of hers, Gajeel as he was known, along so he would see what she liked. They knew that the petite girl was crushing hard on him, but he was still a scary person to them. They were being nice so she could be with her man and get him to at least like the things she did, so when they noticed that the blonde was not at her side they came to the conclusion that the long haired man was coming...or so they thought.

What they expected to come through door was replaced with a shirtless, muscle toned man with features that would've left their jaws agape if they weren't so aware that they could end up drooling all over the floor if they did. Levy could tell that they were all blown away by the mere sight of him and would've given a small cheer if she didn't have to pick up his shirt and coat from the floor behind him. She would let it pass since he was already giving results and he hasn't even talked about anything yet.

"Ladies, this is my good friend Gray Fullbuster and I invited him to join us today." Levy handed his clothes back to him and she could tell that the others became slightly disappointed when he covered up. "Gray these are my friends; Carol, Kokone, Sara, Yui and my old friend Lana."

"Hey everyone" Gray could immediately tell he was the center of attention, something he was expecting after realizing that he came into the room shirtless.

He took in each one's appearance and summarized them to look like an alright group of people, normal in comparison to the characters back at the guild. Each one looked to be about his and Levy's age, except for Lana who he guessed was about Kinana's age. Some noticed differences was that Yui had a pair of glasses with her dark brown colored hair tied in a loose braid with a bow holding it together, Sara and Kokone were twins by the looks of it but their sense of style were completely opposite. While Sara wore somewhat revealing clothing like Lucy, Kokone had a style closer to Laki; clothed well but still showed off her feminine figure.

Carol dressed like any other girl Gray has seen on the streets of Magnolia although she wore in interesting color pattern of blues, reds and bits of green which he found it intriguing that she managed to pull off all those colors at once. He really didn't know anything about fashion, but he's got to admit that some people were good at it. Lana had also caught his interest as she was the oldest in the room and he guessed that she was friends with Levy before the Tenrou incident and she grew up, but she looked to have done so gracefully for she had a figure much like many of the girls in Fairy Tail. Although the one thing that he hoped she wouldn't do is pounce on him since Lana's been eyeing him ever since he walked in, more so than the other girls.

"Well we've better get down to it everyone." Levy spoke up as they all took their seats again, many already getting a few topics up for speaking.

They all spoke about different events that took place during the novel, all of which Gray was surprised that he remembered pretty clearly and added a comment here and there about some points that they had missed. The girls had marveled at the things Gray had said, putting a much more perspective outlook on some of the content that had missed, which in turn had changed a couple of views they had on the story. As the further they got into a discussion the more the ice mage came to realize that Levy may be quiet in the guild, but she is very outspoken person within her own circle. He may be a secluded person, who's way too difficult to get used, but even Gray can understand that a person can change depending on who they're with.

It was a whole different experience to see these people agree about certain details, disagree about plot points that triggered different reactions and listen to them analyze the different motivations each character had before their true intentions were revealed. This book club wasn't so bad in Gray's honest opinion and compared to the stereotypical book club he was thinking about, this one was different in some areas compared to others that were closer to the mark.

"Oh, we should get through whoever's turn it is before we call it a day." Sara said as she had looked up at the clock, seeing that they had less than half an hour left.

"Good point, whose turn is it this time?" Carol looked over each one trying to remember who they stopped on last time, deciding whether it was on either Kokone or Yui.

"It was my turn last time so it's Levy's turn now." Yui spoke as Levy forgot this was actually her turn and she had a brilliant idea that she wanted to try out.

"You're right Yui. Alright so what we're going to do is role-playing." She said with a smile on her face, already knowing who's going to play the count this time. "Gray you're going to be Count Valiario."

"What!" Gray needed to keep his image of masculinity, it was one thing to fool heartedly use bribery as a first resort, but to role-play was a different story.

"Now Gray you don't want Natsu to find out about a certain book do you?" Levy whispered to him and the ice mage could've sworn that she was getting lessons from either Mira or Cana because she was twisting his arm now. Had he created a monster somehow and was she trained by one of the best?

"Fine I'll do it, but Levy I would assume you'll be Princess Himari?" Gray said with a cheeky grin and before the bluenette could refute, all of her friends had unanimously agreed to let her be the Princess.

"O-Okay then I'm the princess, s-so what part will we use as a basis?" This was a little unexpected, sure she wanted to do this but she would've prefered to be an onlooker than be a part of it at this point.

"How about her confrontation with the count right when she realizes that she's fallen in love with him?" Yui said shyly as the others readily agreed, not giving Levy much of a chance to say anything else.

"Here Gray-kun use some of these pages to help you get a feel for what's going on at this point." Lana gave him an opened book that had the count speaking to the princess and in less time than the girls expected, Gray was ready.

"Waiting on you _Princess_..." If Gray was going to have to do this, than he'll have some fun while he's at it.

"W-What have y-you done to me?" To say that Levy was embarrassed would be an understatement, for it was one thing doing it with her friends but to act with a guild mate was on a completely different level especially since it was with Gray.

"You've got to be more specific your Highness, I'm afraid I don't know what you mean." Gray wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was sure he was a pretty good actor. He had to do it with his team in the past and he had done it while he tried to help Natsu keep his promise during that whole Daphne incident, so it wasn't much for him to do this.

"I-I can't seem to t-think straight when I'm um, around you. My heart d-does not settle everytime I look at you, so tell me what you have done to me!" Levy was very nervous, but this was acting after all. She didn't need to be herself, all she had to do was search for her voice as Princess Himari the great warrior princess.

"I didn't do a single thing, I have never laid a hand upon you nor have I used an enchantment on your beautiful face." When it comes to acting, Gray had plenty of experience due to a number of requests he had done in the past to fool a number of opponents.

"Then why is it that...that my chest flares with a shearing anger when you speak to your hand maiden? You use such formal speech with me, but to her it's as if she was the one person you had to care for with everything you had." Levy knew this was her domain and she wasn't about to let Gray embarrass her here, which came as a surprise for her to be so determined to try and out act Gray of all people.

"Maria had grown up alongside me for years in Ascaria, her family had served mine since before we were born. She is the closest person to me and I won't stand idly by when she is faced with danger." Gray had to read a few pages to get her name and understand her relationship with the count before he screwed up his character, thankfully the girls were okay with him looking through the book for a bit.

"Have you ever given the thought that I would want to be seen with such tender eyes? Had it ever occurred to you that maybe I wished to be viewed as a real woman and not some sort of tool of war?" Levy was pulling all the stops on this one, but for the life of her she couldn't understand why she switched Gray at times with Gajeel and back again. Was she truly torn with the whole plan that she had come up with?

"I have seen you in action, be a courageous leader on and off the battlefield and hold true to your words and virtue. Those are qualities that depict a woman who should be with a person that could be easily viewed as an equal to her." The ice mage was having no problem with this impromptu acting since he felt like the count was his kind of guy, but he did wonder why hasn't anyone done a play on this book before? There's plenty of material here that would only require a good script, a nice stage and actors to accomplish, hopefully that Rabian guy doesn't do it though.

"What you say is common knowledge among the civilians and my men, but what they don't know is that I don't want someone like that. I've only known war, trained and bred to be one of the pinnacle points of my kingdom's strengths." Oddly enough in Levy's opinion, she believed that Erza would be perfect for this role if she didn't get stage fright that is, but back to the task at hand which she hoped would end soon.

"Emotions were a forbidden concept amongst my masters, but those rules have changed drastically for now I have learned what joys they bring and what pains that could follow from loss." The bluenette was getting into her role as best as she could, though she wished Gray didn't look so damn hot in her eyes. This signifying that the beautified Gray she saw in the guild a few days ago had returned.

"I'm glad you have experienced them Princess, but I'm afraid I don't follow on what this has to do with me." Gray knew he was teasing her, by the looks of it she was about ready to give up and want a break, but he wouldn't let her go that easily. She messed with the wrong ice mage. Oh how differently things go on in these two's minds, their thoughts were complete opposites of each other.

"For a man with all your talents, you sure are dense to the obvious." Levy remarked in the best impression of a haughty woman she could do, imagining Evergreen in her mind and how she would act and respond. "I want...I want...y-you to be the man I share all my new experiences with."

"You flatter me your Highness, but I'm afraid that I could not meet expectations such as yours. I am nothing more than what your people call a servant to you Princess, I have no right to do such a thing with a woman of high regard. I do what I can to protect you and in turn, my small province of Ascaria is kept in good hands under you." It amused Gray that Levy was not that bad of an actor, guessing that this was one of the activities her group of friends do together when they meet up.

"If it truly must be that way, than I shall release you from your servitude! I will give you back your land and allow you to become it's rightful owner, so you could no longer claim to be of low standard to be with me!" The bluenette could not believe how much she was putting into this, sure she had done this plenty of times in the past but it's never been this intense.

"But if even that does not surmount to anything than leave my sight!" Levy wanted to end it there and catch a break for her rapidly beating heart to calm down, but just as she turned to leave, Gray had grabbed a hold of her arm and brought her close to his body in an embrace she had not seen coming.

"You are a beautiful woman of great honor and I do not wish to tarnish your reputation for the rest of the kingdom you serve to see. If you truly wish for me to view you for the woman that you are and not your kingdom's symbol of war then so be it, for I will shower you with the burning emotions that I've had for you ever since you came to my aid in defending Ascaria." Gray looked into Levy's eyes as he spoke, never wavering his gaze as the bluenette slowly lost herself in his dark pools.

She encircled her arms around Gray's neck, catching the ice mage off guard and crashed her lips to his. High pitched squeals he heard next came from Kokone and Carol, Sara was off blushing madly at the sight in front of her with Yui, equally blushing as much as her, having to take off her glasses since they had fogged over and Lana was stuck with fanning herself as things went a lot farther than what she had thought. All the while the ice mage was still in shock that Levy up and kissed him out of the blue. Was this what some people call "the heat of the moment" or something?

Levy soon came to realize what she was doing and parted lips with Gray, quickly running out of the room in sheer embarrassment of what she had done. The ice mage was still trying to come to terms with what just happened until he heard Lana speak up from her spot.

"Alright everyone, with that our book club is now over. Oh and Romeo, go check up on our little Levy please, I think she needs some comforting words." Gray nodded his head and set off, cursing under his breath that he was now on comforting duty.

"Gray is everything alright? I just saw Levy run outside in a hurry, not to mention the pretty loud squealing from the back rooms." Micheal had heard the noise first followed by a very nervous looking Levy run right by, so there was very few things that he could think of that might have happened.

"Just a small problem, I got it covered though." Gray replied as he quickly ascended up the staircase, hopefully being able to catch up to her wherever she went. As he stepped outside prepared to run off in search for her, he stopped as the petite bluenette was leaning against the wall looking down at her feet.

"Gray I'm really sorry for what happened, I just didn't know what came over me. You were being all suave and I just don't know what happened to my sense of reason and then I just sprung at you..." Levy was saying so many words a second that Gray had to grab her shoulders to calm her down before she hyperventilates.

"Calm down Levy, just breath and say what you need to say." In reality Gray himself was trying to be the bigger person here, figuratively of course since he already was in the literal sense, and have her explain herself.

"I'm...I'm just really sorry Gray, I don't know what came over me." She was worried about many things at this point; kissing her best friend's crush, doing so when she herself thought of another guy as well and constantly having to make up a way to apologise.

"Look, what happened was...uncalled for to say the least, but don't go and beat yourself up about it." _**"Find the words Gray, don't screw this up or else you're fucked!"**_ The ice mage chanted his own mantra to try and say helpful things because he knew his ass was dead if Erza found out about this and his chances with Lucy would drop to zero too.

"I-I don't know Gray...I feel wrong that you're just letting this go so easily." It was true on her behalf, sure he was teasing her a bit but she's the one that went all the way.

"Than you could think about it this way; we're even now." All hope for the ice mage is riding on the small advantage he had over her now. "You cancel that leverage you have about me with the book and I don't say a word of what happened, deal?"

"Uh...yeah t-that sounds fair enough, I guess." Levy thought of it carefully and he did make it sound much better than how she was thinking about before hand.

"Good, we won't say a word about anything and this is just between us."Gray was internally glad that it worked and was surprised he seemed to be getting good at talking to people, or at least his guild mates that is although an idea popped in his head that could help lighten the mood. "In the end I'm naturally a suave guy, even you were no match for me apparently."

"Gray your arrogance is showing again." Levy sarcastically remarked, full knowing that the ice mage was trying to cheer her up and she was grateful that he was making an attempt.

"Say what you will, but keep this piece of advice in mind. Don't immediately start using tongue, instead you should lead into it then lick the bottom lip to suggest the action." Gray was far from finished with his teasing on the solid script mage and she in turn blushed madly. _"If you'd like, I could always teach you the proper way of doing it."_

"G-Gray! Don't say those things out loud!" The petite mage was being daring yes, but she didn't expect Gray to give her pointers on how to kiss after what happened.

"Yeah, yeah I got it. So come on, let's go do something to forget about this." Gray said as he began walking in a random direction with nothing in mind, but do something that would be fun.

 _ **"You sure a different kind of person Gray."**_ Levy thought as a small smile began to form on her lips as she went after the ice mage, picking up his discarded coat on the way.

* * *

Back at the guildhall, it was business as usual in the sense that nothing way out there was happening aside from another brawl that was going on between Gajeel, Natsu and Elfman now marking the twenty-seventh one in just the short time frame of yesterday and now. This was allowed to continue since Erza was much more focused on what she saw earlier that day; she wasn't able to understand how Lisanna got Gray to smile like he had when they entered the guild together. Then again it could have been a number of ways, either of her own doing or her sister's.

Speaking of said demoness, she was awaiting Lisanna to come over to where she was at the bar counter to tell her what she had discovered. Mira had to use every opportunity she got and take it, which allowed her to send Lisanna on a bit of a research mission to get some insight on Gray's preference. The elder Strauss had welcomed her younger sibling back, but she wasn't able to get any info from her due to everyone being a little too focused on them at the time. Luckily for her the attention soon dissipated once Gray moved on and later left, giving the chance for her little sister to make her way over to her. Mira couldn't wait to hear the details of what he thought about her and the other girls, which would give her a better advantage.

"You asked for me Mira-nee?"

"I sure did Lisanna, could you please tell what you've learned during the request?" Mira had quickly noticed that Lisanna avoided eye contact with her as soon as she asked and began to tap her index fingers together. A reaction that Mira knows all too well, telling her that Lisanna was trying to come up with a way to say that she didn't exactly do what she was asked for.

"The thing is...I couldn't really get much for you Mira-nee." Lisanna was one of very few people that could withstand her sister when she's angry, but even she still has a small fear of what she's capable of.

"Could you tell me why is that?" Mira would always overlook mistakes when it came from her siblings, but this is a very crucial predicament she's in and she doesn't like to work without any intel. How else did you think she became known as the best matchmaker in the guild?

"It took me a while to figure it out, but it looked like he was onto what I was trying to do from the start."

"Gray was always the crafty compared to the other boys, he would've realized something was up sooner or later." The ice mage always found a way to play his pranks or locate his own outlets of information if her memory served her well. _**"Guess Gray hasn't lost much of his touch."**_

"But don't worry, he actually told me that you. Cana and Erza were very special to him." The young Strauss knew that wasn't much in the way of info, but she knew that it could serve her sister well in some way.

"Good! At least now I know three people he feels much more connected to. Thank you for trying Lisanna, every bit helps." If she knew Gray to the best of her abilities, the ice mage wasn't one to easily say things like that so she had to give her sister credit for getting him to open up somehow. "Is there something else you needed Lisanna?"

"I've actually been curious as to why you're so interested in Gray? I mean, you've helped other people become couples and yet you haven't decided to be in a serious relationship."

"I don't know how to describe it myself either, it was if just out of the blue that I decided to see Gray beyond the usual brawling boy from our pasts. Even so, he and I share a history together which is also why I'm who am I today instead of that rebellious stage I was when we came."

"I may not know much about it, but what I can say is that Gray's not that bad of person. He's gained my approval even after getting past a few of his faults, but you of all people know how to pick them." Even if she barely got to know a little about Gray aside from what she already did, Lisanna did think he was a good matchup for her sister, although it confused her with the entire situation involving her brother liking him too.

"Thank you Lisanna, it's nice to know that you approve." The young take-over mage smiled at her older sister before she took her leave, allowing Mira to think things to herself. _**"Gray has changed me for the better, especially when I was at my lowest. He's one of a kind and he'll be mine."**_

From that point onward it was a regular day with not much happening, but that was not calming down anyone who knew that Gray was spending the day with Levy. Time flew by so slow for the opposing teams, who were mainly spending their time by coming up with plans to nab Gray and get him to spend time with one of them. Team E.L.L.N. wasn't as concerned as they believed that it would be an easy hand off from one teammate to the other which would maximize their time with him; however, it become a worrisome thing when they discovered that a sole group would keep the ice mage to themselves based on who he would prefer to be with.

Sadly, all the efforts that each team had put into creating a plan were wasted when Levy had returned by herself much later in the day, close to sunset actually. The petite girl made her way back to her group to give a report on how her "date" went and made sure not to leave out a single detail. Needless to say that Lucy was envious of her best friend when she got the ideal scene of acting out an important part of romance with a person you're crushing on, Natsu found it to be a boring thing to do, while Erza imagined the whole scene take place with her as the lead role, right after bashing Natsu into the ground for not being considerate of a person's "ideal" date.

The bluenette laughed along with her friends, but on the inside she was truly torn after what had happened during her time with Gray. It was the moment when she realized that this had truly become a two sided coin; with the ice mage on one side and Gajeel on the other.

 _FLASHBACK_

 _Gray and Levy had finished eating lunch at a bistro in the commercial area of Magnolia, which left the solid script mage a blushing mess as the side compliments she heard from other people started to get to her. She was more than thankful when they were leaving and more so when the ice mage said that they would go to wherever she chooses next, in his own way of making it up to her after teasing her so much. She lead them through multiple shops that she had been meaning to go to for a while, but at some point the ravenette had excused himself from her while she was looking at an item._

 _It had been some time that Gray was gone before Levy decided that she had to go look for him, hoping that she didn't bore him with what she wanted to do. She searched in multiple places where they had gone or where he would've been, but she couldn't find him anywhere until she heard an argument happening in an alleyway. Both voices that were involved were all too familiar with her and she had decided to stay out of sight as Gray was being confronted by Gajeel. His appearance already breaking the established rule of no one interfering on their time with Gray, but what they were saying kept her silent._

 _"Get it through your thick skull metal face! I wouldn't dare do that to Levy!" Gray looked to be furious with Gajeel as if he had been accused of something very serious._

 _"Not until I get your word on this Stripper!" Gajeel looked to be just as furious as Gray, more so since Levy could see that his face seeme to be red with anger._

 _"You want it then, fine! I swear I won't do any sick acts, from whatever that stupid brain of yours has came up with, to Levy!" The bluenette could tell that Gray was none to happy and the smirk Gajeel was sending his way wasn't helping._

 _"Good, cuz if you do anything to my Shrimp then I'll make sure you get paid in double." With that Gajeel shoved past the ice mage and walked off further into the alleyway making it Levy's cue to act as if she was still looking for Gray._

 _She managed to pull it off somehow and was glad that he didn't suspect her of being nearby the exchange he had with Gajeel. Although she couldn't quite lie to herself that her heart truly skipped a beat when Gajeel referred to her as_ _ **his**_ _Shrimp. There really was something between them after all, which made everything she was doing with Gray tear her heart in two. Was she truly living a love triangle romance cliche or something? Nonetheless, her heart was going out to two guys and she has no real clue as to who she should pick. At this point she now understood how Erza must have felt before she put everything into perspective concerning her relationship with Jellal and that with Gray._

 _FLASHBACK END_

She was at a loss, but this gave her a sort of experience that there are some things out there that she can't have. Not much can be done now on her part, but at least she could root for her other teammates to make sure Gray sides with them. Lucy and Erza were their best bet, but Natsu was still a wild card based on how their favorite ice mage reacts with him around. A complicated problem this has become over one guy and Levy hopes that this could be settled easily in the end, as for now she wishes one of the girls get him or at the very least no one of the others grab him.

 _ **"I guess romance isn't so easy after all"**_


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note:** _The new chapter for a New Year, I know I'm slow on an update but I felt that this should be worked on extensively. Let's get this chapter on the way, so review and enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 18

The next day things were just as regular as it could possibly be with everyone in Fairy Tail, save for a completely pissed off fire dragon slayer. Said slayer was busy pouting as he sat with the rest of his team after hearing how Levy's day went as soon as she came back the evening before, finding it completely unfair that he gets beat by Erza for kissing Gray while the bluenette gets excited squeals and praise. Sure his was accidental and he tripped over Happy's fish, but it was still a kiss anyway you look at it and does he get any attention? No, he just gets punched into the next support pillar and gets stuck having to watch what he says around Erza.

 _ **"It's like she thinks she'll lose Gray for forever or something..."**_ Natsu thought to himself grumpily as the others continued to speak enthusiastically at how Levy had created a perfect scenario for her to lose herself in the moment.

"Come on girls, it was a sweet moment and I think it was also sweet of him to change the awkward air around us when I ran off right after." Levy was still trying to get past the entire ordeal between the ice mage and Gajeel, but even though she may not be as great of a concealer as Gray, she still believes that since her friends haven't said anything yet on how off her mood was then it was all good.

"That may be the case Levy, but you are technically our set point in the race of Gray ever since the meeting. Meaning that anything that has happened before can and will affect the final outcome, but this is where what we do now truly shapes how the entire thing will end." Erza spoke up as she made sure to have herself on alert in case something were to blindside them. She could never be too careful, especially when a formerly retired demoness is up to the challenge and ready to get back in the game.

"What I don't get is why we're here instead of going to the ice pop's house and walking walking to the guild with him?" Natsu asked as he lazily placed his head in his arms, burying most of his face underneath his scarf since he was bored beyond belief.

"It was the deal we made with Gray, Natsu. We agreed not to disturb him if he showed us his house, plus we can't really afford to annoy him if we want to stay on his good side." Lucy answered as the same thought had crossed her mind earlier, but she had taken into account of who would be going and decided that it wasn't worth the risk.

"Tch... I just wish he was with us than with Juvia." Now that was another reason why Natsu wasn't in the brightest of moods, since Gray had come in that morning much earlier than any of them it became open season for anyone to get his attention. Obviously his die hard follower had been the closest one and immediately sprang for the opportunity as the ice mage was arguably in a good mood.

Many people were disappointed to miss a golden opportunity so early in the morning and they all had a general idea of what Juvia would do. She had been trying to get his attention for months, so she basically had to be her regular self and it would be much harder since she'll most likely double her efforts. Needless to say that no one was as annoyed as Lucy, since she was Love Rival number one in Juvia's book and it would simply be the water mage flaunting herself all over her Gray while she was powerless to do anything. Aforementioned blonde and her team mates looked on at the interaction that was happening between their ice mage and the water woman at the bar counter.

"Gray-sama have some of these cookies Juvia baked for her beloved! They're tasty chibi versions of Gray-sama!" She excitedly claimed pushing forward a small basket of freshly baked cookies of her love in chibi version.

"As much as it bothers me to see my face on a pastry like that, I can't really deny that they're pretty good." Gray had to admit that even if it somewhat freaked him out to always see his face on a cookie, Juvia wasn't that half bad a baker herself. "But like I said before, you don't need to overdo it on small things for me all the time Juvia." It wasn't the first time she's done this, but he was getting tired of telling her that it wasn't necessary; however, the ice mage felt as if she hears it for a second and lets it go right after.

"How pitiful that you can't accept such a lovely gesture from such a beautiful woman Gray." Gray stood up from his stool and inwardly cringed as he heard one of the most annoying voices that makes a close second to Natsu's. One he hadn't expected to hear this early in the morning.

"Lyon, what are you even doing here?" Gray crossed his arms as he watched his former senior casually walk towards him, although his gaze was more focused on Juvia than him.

"Two reasons of course; the first is to make sure you don't hurt the feelings of my lovely Juvia," As he said this he had managed to squeeze his way between the two and act as a barrier that not many onlookers were complaining about. "And the second is because I had received a call to come by your guild."

"Who the hell would want to call you, ya ice bastard?" Gray remarked as he leaned against the bar counter, glaring at him as he gave a smirk towards his fellow ice mage.

"I did..."

Gray turned to see Loke make his way towards the three, leaving the ravenette baffled that he of all people would want to call on the ice prick standing next to him. He thought it was all a joke, but that serious face the lion spirit wore was telling him something different. The ice mage wondered what Loke would ever want with Lyon, he barely knew the man to be anything more than an acquaintance.

"Oi Loke, care to explain why you called this idiot over?" Gray questioned as Loke flashed him a charming smile as he began to pull Lyon away from them.

"I needed him to get some info on this really cute girl in Lamia Scale is all, Lyon looked like he was close to her so maybe he could tell me a little more about her. I would do my thing naturally, but I wanted to improve my charm a little more if you know what I mean." The strawberry blonde spirit kept moving on with Lyon as said mage blurted a number of things proclaiming his love for Juvia and the such that Gray could care less about.

"Now I've seen it all if Loke needs help getting a girl." Gray commented as he sat right back down on his stool, but right before Juvia could enjoy even more time with her Gray-sama her hand was grabbed and she was being led away by Lyon.

"Lyon-sama where are you taking Juvia?" She wasn't expecting him to take her away so suddenly and it didn't help the fact that she needed to stay at her Gray-sama's side or else she'll be left in the dust by the others.

"Why rescuing you from a lowly heathen that doesn't appreciate what you do for him of course!" Lyon exclaimed as he dragged her away from Gray who was getting ticked off by the things Lyon was saying, but couldn't retort fast enough before he was out of earshot.

"Damn that bastard, always finding way to get under my skin." Gray grumbled to himself as he got another "Gray cookie" from the left behind basket.

"Oh my, could you be jealous of him Gray?" Mira said as she walked up to him, her hands holding a few breakfast platters.

"As if I'll ever be jealous of that idiot, Mira" Gray replied with a smirk as she placed the platters down for the two guild mates waiting for it at a nearby table.

"I suppose not Gray, but there is something I want to speak with you about in a few minutes." Mira said as the sound of someone jerking up in their seats was heard, but was mainly ignored by the ice mage as he looked over at Mira.

"Sure I'm not doing anything important right now, so long as you aren't busy that is." Gray replied, but of course the other half of him had to say something as well for Mira, _"I will always have time for you Mira no matter what."_

"O-Oh don't worry Gray, I'm not very busy and Kinana can hold down the fort for a while." Mira replied as the faintest glow of pink began to form over her cheeks; however, that didn't stop her from flashing a victorious smirk over to her main rival that she knew must have heard what was going on by now.

"Well alright then, I'll probably be still around here for you to find me." Gray watched as the barmaid simply give a meek nod before going off about business, all the while Gray could feel an ominus glare on him and it felt like there was more than just one.

* * *

Back at Team E.L.L.N.'s table a very angered Titania was doing her best to keep her anger in check, sadly it came at the cost of Natsu's arm held in a death grip. He overheard Mira talking to Gray and was about to charge in their and fight him to stop the conversation from going anywhere, but Erza grabbed a hold of him and kept him in place. She of course had to remind him that they couldn't interfere with anyone who managed to get Gray for a bit, but her mood made an instant 180 when she saw the smirk Mira gave her. Erza never really liked it when the demoness would steal her things when she wasn't looking and she'd be damned before she allowed Mira to do it again especially with Gray. Though it was because of how serious she stayed to her word that prevented her from taking the ice mage away from the white haired demon he was talking to.

"E-Erza come on, let go of my arm! I need it to bash the snowman's face in for agreeing with Mira!" Natsu exclaimed as he was slowly losing the feeling in his hands and could swear his fingers were turning purple.

"Yeah Erza, all we can do now is act calm and hope Gray doesn't fall for her." Levy said as she cautiously tried to calm down the angered redhead.

"What you two don't understand is that blue eyed she demon's going to stick her fangs in _**my**_ Gray and he'll become powerless to her charms." Erza seethed as both Natsu and Levy flinched at her attitude, full knowing that the redhead has possibly reverted to her old ways when it came to Mira.

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a little Erza?" Lucy squeaked as she noticed the murderous aura she was giving off, much too afraid to voice her opinion any louder.

"You haven't been around the guild since we were children Lucy, for if you were then you'd understand that what I've said can be no closer than the exact truth!" Erza was frightening already when she was angry, but Lucy could only imagine how scary she was years ago when Mira was just as bad.

"Aye, the Great Erza knows what she's talking about." Happy chimed in from his spot on the table, watching with an amused smile of what was happening to his best pal.

"Suck up..." Lucy automatically retorted until she realized that Happy was with them the whole time. "Wait a minute, Happy do you even know what is going on!?"

"Aye, all of you are after Gray so he could stay on your team and Levy's helping you." The blue furred cat replied as both the blonde and blunette looked at each other quizzically then turned their gaze over his caretaker and pink haired best friend.

"What? I explained it carefully to Happy so he wouldn't think things were getting weird or something." Natsu replied as his face turned into a pained expression once again. "Now could you guys help get Erza off!" Even while they talked, Erza had yet to release her grip on Natsu's arm until both women slowly eased her off and tried to calm her down.

"Come on Erza it'll be okay, plus we're going to need Natsu at some point. That means he's going to need his arm back, before he loses feeling in it." Lucy was relieved when the red head slowly loosened her grip and calmed herself with a few long breaths before she spoke once again.

"I apologize Natsu, I did not mean to cause you so much pain. My own grudge against that she demon went unchecked and for that I am sorry, please strike me for what I have done." Erza bowed her head to him and everyone was more or less in complete awe at how fast she was able to get herself in order so quickly.

"T-That's alright Erza, he doesn't need payback." Lucy spoke up as she patted the requip mage's shoulder gently.

"But..."

"Right Natsu, you only need her word of apology." The dragon slayer would've retorted, but the look he was receiving from Lucy shut him up and he decided to concede.

"Fine, Luce's right and I don't need that free hit to accept it." Natsu sarcastically replied, slightly bummed out that he didn't get a free hit on Erza.

"Well it's great to know that we settled it rather easily, but I'm still curious as to what you make of this Happy?" Levy asked towards the small blue cat who was busy chomping away at his fish Kinana had brought over while they were calming down Erza.

"I find it funny that Natsu's so serious in making sure Gray stays on your team and Erza doesn't like it when Mira takes things away from her, ever since they were young she never liked it." Happy replied as he got a curious stare from Lucy, while Levy signaled him to go on with his explanation. "Basically, I understand why she would say it was her Gray because he is her team mate, but what I don't get is why Natsu's always grumbling about Gray being his after he talks with Gajeel and after they fight too."

"Well from what I know, Gajeel's been thinking about forming his own team with Juvia and was thinking about having Gray on it too." Levy said as the blue cat nodded his head in understanding, coming to his own conclusion that Natsu was being like Erza and didn't want something he had taken away. "By the way, did you ever find out who Natsu likes?"

Levy wanted to know as she overheard him saying that simple catch phrase on Natsu some time ago and thought that he already had an answer. Plus she wondered what his reaction was when he discovered it was Gray.

"Not really, but I'm pretty sure it's Lisanna!" He chirped as the entire table looked at him in wonderment, except for Natsu who was looking at a different direction while he spoke.

"What makes you think that? Couldn't he be into someone like Lucy since they spend a lot of time together?" Levy asked as the mentioned blonde blushed from her friend's claim and Erza nodded her head in agreement.

"I would've thought the same way as well, before the recent information presented to me that is." Erza said as Happy gave some thought to it, but gave a regular smile and crossed his arms.

"There's no way someone would like Lucy, she's too loud." Happy replied as the blonde gave out an insulted "Hey!"

"Besides, Natsu and Lisanna played house all the time together when they were kids and she's the only girl I know that makes his face go all pink sometimes." He continued as all the girls looked over at said dragon slayer who was facing them with a hurried expression until he caught onto their looks.

"What?" He asked as the others gave exasperated sighs, their thoughts on how the dragon slayers feelings for the white haired girl dashed away as they understood how he was with a love interest.

"Nevermind Natsu, but what was with that face you just had? It was like you wanted to tell us something." Lucy said as his face perked up again into the hurried expression he had earlier.

"That's right! I was going to tell you that Gray and Mira already left together!" He exclaimed as it finally dawned on them that the eldest Strauss had a plan of her own set in motion.

The others were once again thrown into worry over what Mira could possibly have in mind for Gray and it didn't help their imaginations knowing that she is a queen in her field of matchmaking. All outcomes they had in mind had a similar ending with Gray holding Mira tenderly and she would claim that it was all over and that his heart belonged to her. While their faces turned into moping ones, Happy was just giggling at how Lucy's face morphed into a distraught one until he looked over at Natsu's. The pink haired slayer's face looked to be filled with determination about something and as all cats are (in Happy's for sure reasoning) his curiosity gnawed at him to know why the news made the others mope, but not him.

"You seem to still stand strong Natsu, how come?" The dragon slayer merely grinned down to his blue furred friend before igniting his fist on fire.

"That's simple little buddy, cuz if there's one thing I'm making sure of, then it's getting Gray to come around to like me the way I do to him and having him stay by my side! He'll be closer to me than anyone else!" Natsu still had his determined face as he spoke while Happy was making his ever so devious face to him.

"Natsu llllliiiiiikkkkkeeeeesssss Gra- wait a minute... Natsu you like Gray!" Happy's world was shifted upside down now as the impossible had just happened.

Was his best friend and caretaker now interested with his biggest rival? It didn't seem possible in a million years and Happy would bet his fish on that without question, but to hear him say that just blew him away. How could it happen, last time he checked Natsu was a bit of a stumbling mess after Lisanna told him that she'd be his wife someday. Sure it was a long time ago when she said it, but he knew Natsu would still think about it from time to time. Even with his mind becoming jumbled and the way of order was shifting before his very eyes, Happy held one thing that Natsu said in his head much longer than anything else.

"He'll be closer to you than anyone else?" Happy's voice slightly quivered as he repeated what Natsu said and tears started to form at the corners of his large eyes. "Does it mean that you're replacing me Natsu!?"

"What? There's no way I'd do that little buddy!" Natsu tried to reach out for him, but Happy stepped back as anime tears streamed down his eyes.

"Than I'll make sure of it, I'll tell Gray not to get close to you so there's no chance I'll get replaced!" With that the little blue cat flew off in search of where ever the ice mage went off to with Mira in hopes that he'd at least hear him out and help in some way.

"Wait Happy don't say anything!" It was already too late for him to stop the flying blue cat as he was already out of the guild doors and Natsu gazed on at his retreating form in defeat.

"What are you doing Natsu, go after him!" Lucy said as he looked over at Erza and back to her.

"I can't, cuz I'm not allowed to "interfere" when someone has Gray to themselves." He replied as the sarcasm hadn't gone unnoticed, especially around his emphasis on the word interfere.

"Well it's not right leaving Happy to go on and tell Gray." Levy spoke up as she could tell that it wouldn't be the wisest idea to let him be on his own in that state.

"She's right Natsu, if Mira discovers that there is division within our ranks, than she'll capitalize on it." Erza added in as she could see how it would benefit the elder Strauss in her ways of gaining Gray. "She'll most likely help Happy in making sure you don't get close to Gray, thus helping herself gain a foothold on us while assisting in Happy's wishes." Mira was clever when it came to strategy and ever since the meeting it has become a no holds barred situation.

"Alright I get it, I'll go after him. Just hope I find him before he finds them." Natsu quickly sprang to his feet and ran out of the guild doors; however the girls were still unsure if they should've let Natsu go alone.

They all knew if any one of them had tagged along with him and were somehow caught, then there would be a price to pay for interrupting Mira's time with Gray. Although it was also bad that they sent Natsu alone, meaning that there was an overly excitable dragon slayer who would most likely be tailing them. With that, who knows what he'll do when Mira makes a move on Gray whether it was intentional or not, but there was one person that could not be counted as interfering. Use one dragon slayer to stop a possible problem, send out another to go after him and make sure he doesn't become the problem.

Erza immediately called for Wendy and explained the situation they were in to her, she of course was their best option to make sure nothing would happen if she kept watch over him. She may not be in the race with the rest of them, but one may say that the little dragon slayer had a bias towards Team E.L.L.E.N. since her new brother was a part of the team that made three-fourths of it. Even so, they really couldn't call her out on it since who would do that to a little girl and besides ,what trouble could she possibly get into if her main objective was to make sure Natsu doesn't make a mess of things?

With a few more words, the young dragon slayer set off after Natsu with Carla following close behind her as a second form to stop Happy, of course she didn't know the last part. Levy and Lucy hoped she found him in time before things went south, but Erza had confidence that Wendy was very capable in handling the situation.

* * *

With Gray and Mira, the ice mage was asked by the barmaid to accompany her on a small errand run around Magnolia for the guild. Of course Gray being himself didn't feel up to it and denied, but Mira played her crying card and his answer immediately changed. She knew that Gray wasn't a fan of a girl's tears and was always willing to find a way to make them stop which always made him go into a panic state when she did it. Showing tears and feining that she was crying worked in her favor against Gray for many years, ever since she learned one truth he didn't reveal to anyone but her when Lisanna "died".

Gray on the other hand was grumbling to himself for falling for Mira's fake tears routine again, knowing that it was something that would always get him one way or the other. He hated to see girls cry, something that always bothered him ever since he was young and could either place it on how his father taught him or just by his personal feelings on the matter. It was one thing getting taught not to make a girl cry and to try and make them feel better, but when he saw it for himself it was a completely different experience. At times he wondered if a girl's tears were one of his biggest weaknesses outside of combat, yet he felt it to be one of his biggest motivators to try and uplift them from their sadness.

In his travels to the west he saw and met plenty of people, some he helped to the best of his abilities and that girl he rescued from that guild, Chrono Sound or Noise which ever one since he couldn't quite remember, was the first time he witnessed a girl's tears. Even when he saw them again when he helped her reunite with her family, Gray knew that the ones that impacted him the most were those from Erza and Mira. Two of the toughest girls he has ever known who could even rival Laxus in a fight showed tears of true despair, the same ones he wishes to never see again and would do everything in his power to avoid seeing them. Now that he thought about it, maybe that was the reason he so readily changed his answer for Mira whenever she did her crying routine.

"What do you think Gray?" Came the sweet voice of Mira that instantly snapped him back to reality as he turned to look at her apologetically.

"Sorry Mira I didn't catch that, can you run that by me again?"

"Sure thing Gray, I asked you if I should place an order of fruit to be delivered to the guild so I could make that punch from the celebration again." Mira had received a number of requests to make her punch again; however, she lacked the necessary ingredients to make it again and was asking Gray at the moment if she should place an order so she can make it sooner or wait a bit longer.

"Well I didn't get a chance to drink it last time, so I say yes. It'll give me a chance to get a taste of your punch Mira." He replied until he glowed in a beautifying light, _"Hopefully that's not all I get a taste of from you, Mira."_

Mira blushed furiously as she looked away from the mage and asked the man behind the counter to place the order for Fairy Tail. He wrote down the number and types of fruits she wanted on his notepad, giving her a kind smile as he told her that it'll be at the guildhall on time. She thanked him, although her face still held a bright blush as she bid him goodbye and moved on to the next place she needed to visit. The ice mage following her at her side, but she felt slightly down knowing that Gray was aloof for a bit while they were together.

"I guess you're a little bored being with me, huh Gray." Mira said as the ice mage quickly denied it, stuttering for an answer until she giggled, "It's okay, when Elfman comes with me he gets like that too."

"It's not that I was bored Mira, more like I got deep into thought is all." Gray knew he had been doing that a lot recently, but he wouldn't outright say he was also thinking about her and Erza; however, his beautified self would do that for him. _"To be honest, I was daydreaming about you."_

"Oh, I-I see. Well maybe you can tell me about it some time." To be fair, Mira always received pick up lines and flirty remarks from a number of men, but to get one from Gray along with her interest in him made it an all new experience.

"Maybe I'll take you up on it." Gray replied as they continued to walk through the market area, but something felt off for Gray.

As he walked alongside the white haired mage, the constant feeling of being watched creeped up on him every time he turned his head. For a split second he could've sworn he saw brown hair duck behind a box some time ago, but it didn't seem to be what was grating on his surrounding senses. He tried to place it on something until he caught the jealous glares from a number of other guys he passed as he continued walking with Mira. He easily deduced it to just be the constant stares he was getting from walking with the barmaid, Mira was of course one of the guild's beautiful gems that not a single man has gotten to have for their own. Gray could say he was lucky for knowing her pretty well from being guild mates, but he wasn't one who was fond of having all the attention on him which was already gnawing at his nerves.

"Gray you know you shouldn't strip in public." Mira reprimanded as she handed him back his coat and shirt, both of which he stripped as they stopped at another vendor.

"Sorry about that Mira, guess I'm not use to having so much attention on me." Gray mused as he took back his clothes and placed them back on, yet Mira was just getting used to the sight of his bare torso.

"Well it's a sight to see when Mirajane Strauss has taken a gentleman caller." An old woman said as she looked at the pair from her place near the register.

"I woudn-" Gray was about to reply to her, but Mira stopped him when she took a hold of his hand and wrapped herself around his arm.

"Well it's a first for me, but I'm sure that if there's someone out there that I could believe in to keep my spirits high, it's him." Mira flashed a loving smile up to the ice mage and he was at a loss for words.

"C-Come on Mira, you don't really mean that do you?" Gray was one person who knows how Mira could be, especially since she's just as mischievous as she was in her rebelious years.

"Oh but I do mean it Gray. If there was a person I could say that would keep me happy, then it'd be you." Mira was well aware that admitting your feelings to your love interest in a cute way would sway them in your favor.

The older woman simply giggled at their banter, seeing young love at its finest in this generation and was happy to know Mirajane had found her interest. The dark haired young man was a questionable one at first glance if she were to be honest, but there was something about him that she could instantly tell could have a good impact on a person's life. To say that Mira found her match was still up for debate on her behalf, but this young man seemed to be good choice and if the citizens of Magnolia knew something about Mirajane, then it would be her excellent judge of character.

"Now you take good care of her young man, Mirajane is a sweet girl and anyone would be ecstatic to be with her." The old woman informed to the mage as he looked back her way with a friendly grin.

"Sure thing, besides it's not my style to hurt my guild mates." He replied as Mira waved goodbye to her and were once again on their way, but she had yet to remove herself from Gray's arm.

"Hey Mira, um...how come you're still holding my arm." The ravenette was no stranger when it came to someone latching onto his arm, but he felt odd having Mira do it.

"That's easy, it's because I want to." She replied with a bright smile as he scratched the back of his head in confusion, but a small brunette face palmed at watching the two.

Carrie had been following the pair ever since she saw them together after her last delivery, she wouldn't have thought much of it if she hadn't caught the look Mirajane was giving Gray while he was off in space. She's seen a number of looks people could make, from hatred to disgust and the one the white haired woman was giving her big bro was that of a woman in love. Knowing how Gray was, Carrie deduced that he accepted going along with her for some reason or maybe dragged into it, but she made it her mission that the former model wouldn't get her hands on Gray. He was already dating Erza Scarlet, so she wasn't going to allow him to become a cheater on top of being known as the city's local stripper.

The young Cromwell knew the ice mage was a good man on the inside that some people didn't get to meet, but she couldn't let anybody think he was a no good two-timer and vowed that not even Mirajane Strauss would make him one. So Carrie took it upon herself to follow them and if she tried to make a move on him, than she'd try to the best of her abilities to make sure it fails. At the moment she was lucky he was still pretty dense at what she was signaling at him, but she could tell that Gray had a feeling that at least someone was following them.

 _ **"Sometimes even I have to wonder when Gray started to legitimately flirt with other girls."**_ Carrie thought as she continued moving from cover to cover, waiting on when Mirajane would make her move.

"Come on Wendy, this is a great plan! All we have to do is follow those too and make sure Happy doesn't make it to Gray." Carrie looked to the right of her and just across the street she saw the dark haired girl accompanied by the one she knew to be Gray's biggest rival.

"Huh, so he does have bright pink hair." Carrie mused to herself although, unbeknownst to her, the dragon slayer's ear twitched at the comment.

"It's not pink, it's salmon!" Natsu hissed over to where he had heard the voice until his eyes caught Carrie's as the young Cromwell nervously laughed.

"What are you doing here?" Wendy quickly moved across the street with Natsu, hoping that they weren't seen all the while holding the young Cromwell's stare.

"I could ask you the same thing, Wendy..." Carrie simply crossed her arms to her in an ignoring fashion as Natsu looked between the two, unsure of what was happening.

"Do you two know each other or something?"

"That girl is Carrie and as far as it goes, she and I are simply acquaintances for the time being Natsu-nii." Wendy replied as a smirk formed on Carrie's face, one that the little dragon slayer didn't like so much since it was directed at her.

"Oh is this your brother Wendy? If you have him then I guess it's only fair that I get Gray." Both girls had their own stare down at each other and Natsu could've sworn he could see a lighting clash between each of their stares.

The pink haired slayer was at a loss, it was one thing that Wendy was responsible for him in not messing up on his Happy prevention duty, but he felt that she was going through her own little problem with this other girl. In the time since Wendy joined the guild, Natsu had seen the different reactions she's had with other people, but they way she was acting with Carrie was something new. He personally wondered what was going on and was about to ask if it weren't for the small shadow that flew over them, which in turn made his heart drop when he saw an all too familiar shade of blue with wings fly by. Without a second thought he grabbed both girls' arms and rushed off after him as the two they were following had gone on ahead.

"GRAY!" Happy cried as he awkwardly face hugged the ice mage who was trying his best to peel off the cat on his face. While the two dragon slayers and young teen hid behind cover, of course Natsu was urging Wendy and Carrie to go get him since he wasn't allowed to be seen.

"Alright Happy you got my attention, now get off my face." Gray said in a muffled voice as the blue cat had yet to release his head, which Mira giggled to herself to see the predicament the ice mage was in.

"G-Gray is it t-true?" Happy hiccupped as his tears slowly fell on top of the ice mage's head, who was still trying to pry his paws off the sides of his face. "A-Are you r-replacing me?"

With another pull, the ravenette managed to get him off and held the crying feline at arms length to get a look at him. "Replace you? How could I do that, I'm not an Exceed if you haven't noticed."

"N-Natsu said he wanted you to be the closest p-person to him" His tears continued to fall and Gray was feeling pretty awkward at the moment since he was holding a crying blue cat. As far as the ice mage could tell, his pink haired moron of a rival must have worded his sentence like an idiot and Happy got the wrong idea.

"Umm...Gray could we get Happy for a second." Said maged looked behind him to see both Carrie and Wendy standing there with nervous expressions. What he didn't know was that the eldest Strauss was giving off a very displeased aura that had them shaking in their shoes.

"Sorry girls, I need to share a few words with Happy. Could you two keep Mira company while I speak with him?" Gray knew he had to clear this up with Happy or else the blue bundle of tears wouldn't get the right idea of what was going on in Natsu's mind.

"Sure..." Carrie meekly replied as he walked off in a random direction, leaving them with Mira who was smiling cheerfully to them.

"Look Happy, I don't know what that moron said and frankly I couldn't give two Jewels to want to know, but you gotta understand that you're not getting replaced." The ice mage sat down at a nearby bench and placed Happy down next to him. "You and the flame headed numbskull are inseparable, not to mention that I can't stand the idiot long enough before a fight breaks out."

"But he looked so determined that he wanted you to stick to him."

"He probably meant to keep an I on me so I don't surpass him, but I'm sure he'll be lagging along one of these days." Gray replied, smirking down towards the blue feline as he had stopped crying. "Anyways, just have Natsu apologize to you for not being clear enough, that is if he would stop hiding behind that sign of course." For what the ice mage knew, Natsu must have ran after Happy after someone told him what he did and simply hid away so that he wasn't caught by him and being made fun of.

The dragon slayer jumped a little at the fact that Gray had caught him hiding, but in reality the ice mage saw his feet and a tuft of his hair popping over the sign. He reluctantly emerged from his hiding spot and walked over to the two, but Gray stood up just as Natsu sat down next to Happy. The ravenette waved his hand goodbye to Happy, allowing the two to have a one-to-one chat to clear Happy's misunderstanding although Gray could've sworn the blue cat wanted to tell him something else if he weren't blubbering the whole time he tried to speak. In the end he simply thought of it as him trying to say that he felt hurt or something like that, but what he found interesting was that Mira looked like she was talking about something important to two young girls he left her with.

* * *

"Now you see what was going on, there's no need to think that way since nothing is happening at all." The white haired woman smiled down at them and with understanding nods went on their way once they saw Gray coming back.

"What was that all about Mira?" He asked as the two looked to be speed walking further away down the street.

"Oh nothing Gray, just a small case of misunderstanding is all." She replied simply as she went back to walking with Gray again.

"Are you sure Mira because it looked like there's more to it than that."

"Do you truly wish to know what we were talking about?" Mira asked with a hard gaze directed towards the ice mage, who reluctantly nodded his head even if a part of him was scared for his life. "Very well then. Carrie, I believe her name was, had asked if you were cheating on Erza with me."

If Gray had any form of liquid in his mouth, he would've done a spit take right at that moment from hearing one of the wildest things ever. With what Gray has heard in his time knowing both women, it was every man's dream to have either one under their arm, but to be with one and cheat with the other at the same time was an unspoken rule you were never allowed to break. To think Carrie thought of him as a cheater soured his mood sure enough, but he feared the results of Mira knowing something was going on between him and Erza. The ice mage was almost afraid to ask what her response to the question was. Almost.

"So...what did you say?"

"I told her that she was mistaken, that you two weren't dating each other since I would know before anyone else. Although, I did also say that since you're single, it made you fair game and I was just...testing the ice." She replied as Gray drew back from her in surprise, easily understanding her analogy and bewildered at the thought that Mira was doing her own testing.

"Y-You don't really..." It dawned on Gray that Mira was simply teasing him again and just wanted a reaction out of him. "I see what you're doing Mira, I've got to admit you almost had me there. I'm not going to fall for your teasing again, so don't try anymore." Given that she's teased him over hundreds of times, he was positive that he wouldn't fall for it this time.

"What do you mean Gray? I'm being serious."

"Sure you are and Natsu's actually a genius." He wasn't going to fall for it, she's made him eat his own words before and he wasn't about to let it happen again.

"You're mean Gray, here I am telling you that I want to have something with you and you're calling me a liar." Mira pouted, doing her own puppy dog eyes and preparing tears just in case this wouldn't break him. Mira was good at a number of things and bold tactics were one of her specialties, since they do well when applied to her matchmaking plans.

"It's not like that Mira, honest! I thought you were just joking with me, don't cry!" Gray hastily exclaimed as he could see that tears were forming in her eyes, but to Mira he fell for it again and it was her time to act.

"Then do you now know what I was trying to signal you?" She asked, sniffling to put a little more depth into her act.

"I uh...when did you? No, why me of all people?" It was official that this was out of character for Mira, he couldn't believe that she was into him.

"What? I don't understand Gray."

"Just that, why me and not someone else more suited for you?" He wanted a straight answer since both Erza and even Cana had out right confessed to him with reason, but to have Mira do so was way beyond what he thought could happen.

Mira could see that he was being serious, his demeanor wasn't so different when he was at the guild yet it was through his eyes that she knew he wanted an answer. She gently reached for his hand and began to lead him out of the commercial area and into the park, although Gray was still waiting on an answer. She continued guiding him to an unoccupied bench and sat down with him, but she used this as a way to collect her thoughts for an answer.

"To tell you the truth Gray, I never really thought about being in a relationship and I was pretty much more inclined helping others than myself. Even if it never occurred to me to find someone for myself I didn't really mind, but something had happened and that's what got me thinking that I should at least try finding my match." She replied to the ice mage who was taking all this info in; however, he had yet to get his answer from her.

"I don't see a problem with that, but I just don't get why someone like you would choose me." The ravenette had plenty of emotional baggage within him that would give psychologists a field day and he doubted himself on being the best choice for someone like Mira.

"Oh my, is the Great Gray selling himself short?" Mira mused as Gray simply gave her a look when he was called his old nick name again.

"I don't sell myself short, plus I haven't gone by that nickname in years." Mira simply giggled at him as he continued. "I'm serious Mira, so stop dodging the question."

"Alright I guess I've had my fun, you see when it came down to it I thought about a person who would be right for me. Out of all the people I had thought of, you were the only one that I could truly say I wanted to be with." Even if her infatuation with Gray had come up just recently, Mira did see Gray as a good romantic partner. "You were someone who had the biggest impact on my life Gray."

"I guess I played a hand in it, but there were plenty of people who helped you out when you needed it most. Like Natsu for instance and the Master, they did the best they could for you, Elfman and Lisanna while I just did what I could at the moment." Gray new this to be the truth, the flaming hot head and gramps were two of the biggest influences on the Strauss siblings throughout their time in Fairy Tail.

"And I'm grateful for them, but it was you who did the most for me. You helped me get past the darkest point in my life and helped shape the person I am today." She gently reached out for his hand, her smaller and warmer hand held his colder one as she could feel the small jerk he did when she grasped it. "Please Gray I want you to understand that even if you think you won't find that special someone for yourself, know that there is someone waiting for you."

Mira tightened her grip, the ice mage had noticed that something all too familiar was happening, but he couldn't counter fast enough once he looked into her sky blue eyes. Gray knew how to be a master seductor when out on a job to get info and the likes, but he felt powerless when compared to Mira's charm. It was at this moment that he realized that he may be a master on others, he is but just a novice when compared to the white haired beauty in front of him.

From the looks of it, Mira could tell she had caught Gray in her trap, but at the same time it was if she was caught in her own. She couldn't tell whether or not the drumming beat of a heart was hers or his and the look of adoration pulled her even closer into making the ice mage hers. If being the match made than the match maker as like, then she would've decided to try it herself for a change a lot sooner. Gray was ever so close to her, the feeling of his cool breath on her lips was nothing more than a reminder of their distance and with another mental push she gave him a loving kiss. The barmaid knew it was much bolder to go straight for the lips and would no doubt have him further in her grasp, but it felt much more intoxicating with the mage compared to the other times she's kissed someone. With a flushed face she drew away from Gray, the speechless ice mage only looked on as the demoness gave him another warm smile before saying that it was time they should be heading back to the guild.

Gray followed behind the barmaid, although he walked with a bit of a sway in his step as he had realized that his life was practically over if Erza finds out what had just transpired between him and Mira. His everyday life, the one he didn't mind changing, just got a whole lot more complicated now that he's dealing with his new emotions and old ones. Not to mention the unexpected ones that could very well help bury his grave, but the repercussions if someone like Carrie found out that it's not just Mira and Erza that are interested in him would definitely do him in. A girl's mind at her age could think of a number of things she'd end up calling him; womanizer like Loke, a cheating dog, maybe go as far as call him the harem king and that's the last royalty title he needed next to his stripper title. _**"How could this have happened?!"**_

As for Mira, she was in her own realm thinking about how her plans were flowing very orderly, although she still had her doubts as she fully understood that not all plans could be seen through to the end. She was a master in her field with not many people capable of equaling her in the matters of the heart, so if Gray was able to resist then it would still leave him the impression that there is something between them. Even though her plan was capable of success, her main problem would be her attachment to him and it would only hinder her chances if jealousy reared its ugly head while someone was with him. Nevertheless, Gray was a fundamental part of her new beginning and she wouldn't let someone like him out of her sights especially for the fact that he was the only one that stood up to her and set her straight when she had nothing more than a bitchy attitude and the strength to knock a person out in a single blow if she wasn't feeling malicious.

 _FLASHBACK ~A couple of weeks after the death of Lisanna~_

 _Mira was a wreck, her heart couldn't take the loss of her little sister and the tears she always expected to dry up kept falling onto the tabletop in her kitchen. Nothing was going her way anymore, the people at the guild gave her their condolences but it mattered little to her because her baby sister was gone for good. Natsu had already told her it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't look him in the eye since every time she did, she'd see him and Lisanna playing with Happy. She couldn't bare it any longer and simply resorted to yelling at many of her comrades, demanding to be left alone as this was her one defence mechanism. She knew that Natsu lost his dragon father sometime ago and was always willing to go on a search for him, but that's about it for people who've experienced deep loss as Laxus couldn't give two shits about his father after a few weeks. No one knew loss like her and Elfman, no one could understand how empty it feels and what really happened to her little sister._

 _It crushed her on the inside that, like their parents, they didn't have something to bury underneath Lisanna's grave, just an empty casket. She disappeared in her hands, the beautiful eyes of her sister that matched her own held her final tears before she dissappered in a shimmer of gold light and Mira damned the world she walked on for not allowing her to have the remains of her dear sister. It wasn't fair to her, to Elfman or to Lisanna as she left them alone in that rocky mountain side with nothing, but the news of her passing and broken hearts. She wanted time to heal herself and was glad that Elfman was willing to continue working to help pay the bills of their home, but she just couldn't bring herself to get back out there again._

 _This was the last place Lisanna knew to be her home alongside Fairy Tail and now, now it was just an empty house filled with nothing but regret and sadness. As far as she knew, Elfman had stayed at the guild, surely drinking away his sadness with Cana's help which left her all alone in their home filled with memories. How ironic that the toughest chick Fairy Tail's ever had, besides the tin can she calls a rival, struggles to even want to perform magic; her own fears of failure stopping her from doing anything at all._ _ **"How pathetic of me..."**_

 _"Hey, Mirajane...?" Normally one would instantly react if they heard a random voice when their alone, but she knew this one to be that of the great Stripper King himself._

 _"What do you want?" She may be depressed, but she was fully capable of making snide remarks and she wasn't about to let herself be seen weak in her own home._

 _"I just helped Elfman get home and I wanted to say that...I'm sorry about what happened to Lisanna." She could tell just by looking at him that the ice mage was pretty awkward in giving his apology; she guessed it as him being forced to do this and no doubt by the Tin Can._

 _"Is that all? If so, then get lost already. Elfman'll thank you tomorrow or something." She didn't want to be weak in front of anybody and she knew the mage had some brains to understand that she really wants him to leave._

 _"Uhh, yeah that's it...I know it's hard, but um...you'll get through it." She knew he was feeling awkward with what he's saying, but for some reason it only pissed her off even more._

 _What could he understand of the pain she felt? What could he say to make her feel better about herself after letting something like this happen to her own little sister? Nothing. There was nothing he could say to change the fact, nothing a stripping boy who's only care in the world was to get by day to day, strip and fight the pink haired flaming boy on a daily basis. He had no right to say anything to her, the mage may have wanted to come off as a nice guy but he hardly interacted with any of them since they joined. He hardly spoke to Lisanna for that matter, he only just managed to talk with Elfman regularly and the only interaction he had with her was when she was beating his ass into the floor for getting in the way of her fights with Erza. He had nothing to say to her, nothing to apologize for and she wasn't going to take his sappy excuse of feeling sorry as a justified way of truly feeling bad about her loss._

 _"Shut up..." It was a low tone that came from her mouth and the mage only questioned it. "I said shut up!" Mira was unsure why she was so angry, why she felt so frustrated when people kept telling her that they felt bad for her loss and somewhere on the inside she felt that this mage in front of her was the last straw. "What could you possibly be sorry for!?"_

 _"I just wanted to..." She allowed a small burst of magic power to unleash from her being, it was so unlike her to get this angry at anyone, but for some reason she felt better this way._

 _"No, you have no right to say it! You were hardly around_ _ **MY**_ _Lisanna! How could you feel sorry for someone when you hardly knew the person they lost!?" She stood up from her chair in the kitchen with nothing but the raw emotion she was letting out to keep her going; her frustration against herself and her unwillingness to accept the reality that her little sister was gone from her world._

 _"Look I know how it feels alright, an-" If what he said earlier was the last straw, then this destroyed the dam holding back her emotions._

 _"Yeah right, you probably lost your dog snowflake when day when you were six and cried about it for a week until your parents got you a new one. You have no idea of what I'm dealing with, of how much torture it is to know that one of your own blood won't be here to see you again!" New tears began to stream from her eyes, tears of anger and regret poured out but she still stood firm. "I think you've overstayed your welcome, now get the fuck out of my house!"_

 _If her eyes weren't distorted from her tears, Mira would have been able to see that the ice mage looked to be seething with rage. He had a face of unrestrained anger, something that was hardly ever seen from the "cool headed" ice mage. The demoness stood firm with a finger pointed towards the front door, but the ravenette hadn't moved from his spot._

 _"Didn't you hear me?! GET OUT!"_

 _"No..." He replied as Mira wiped away her tears, already willing to physically kick him out if she had to._

 _"No? This is my house and I ca-" Before she could continue, the ice mage drew closer and now Mira was able to see a torrent of anger blizzarding in his eyes._

 _"No you shut up and listen to me." His voice held such a restrained anger that Mira could easily identify it with the voice type from dark mages she's defeated in the past. "I will take all the verbal punishment you deal out, all the physical pain brought onto me too just so I could help out a comrade in need, but never say I don't know what loss is."_

 _Mira struggled to form words to his claim, yet she couldn't bring herself to move from her spot and listened on as the mage continued._

 _"I came because I can relate to you when it comes down to losing someone important and I'll be damned if I'm accused for not understanding the pain that follows it!" Of all the times that Mira has seen someone so determined and angry, Gray had taken the high spot at the moment. "I lost everyone I ever cared about; my family, my friends even my whole home town was destroyed leaving me the only survivor."_

 _"I-I didn't know..." Mira truly felt terrible for saying all those things now, she's experiencing the pain of losing her little sister, but to lose everyone you ever cared for was something she knew she couldn't handle._

 _"To be honest, the suffering you're going through is a mutually shared thing amongst some of us and that's why we try to help as best as we can for those who need it." Mira remained speechless to the things he was saying as he passed a hand through his hair with slight annoyance. "I've lost a lot, more than I would ever want to and now I want to make sure you don't get lost in this labyrinth of despair."_

 _"How can you help, Lisanna's gone and I just can't..." She altogether had a different opinion about the ice mage standing in front of her now, he has a past that was darker than what she could've imagined and here he is trying to help her cope with her loss, but she still believed he couldn't do much._

 _"All you've got to do is let others help you, I vowed to make sure I don't lose anyone I care about again and that includes you too. You're a member of Fairy Tail, we are family and we'll help each other out no matter what so all you've got to do is let us in." She watched as he gave her a kind smile before he scratched the back of his head and started to make his way for the door._

 _"Hey Stripper, you forgot your clothes." Mira quickly picked up his discarded clothing, bunched it into a ball and threw it at him._

 _"Thanks, by the way cut that damn tough chick act and stop crying." Mira quickly reeled back at his claim, completely caught in her own act and was about to ask before he spoke again. "It's a front you put up to protect you and your siblings from being tormented again, like you guys were back at your old home, plus I hate to see girls cry since it doesn't suit them at all."_

 _"I didn't think someone would notice and I had no idea you could hate something." Mira replied as this was the first time someone knew she was acting the way she was on purpose and that Gray was capable of having a strong dislike of something trivial. "I guess I didn't hide it very well, but how did you know my past?"_

 _"A drunk Elfman will tell you a number of things, besides being who you truly are will help you out in the long run and not some facade people will fear." Mira took his words into consideration and felt that he was right, but she had also caught a glimpse in his eyes that looked to be that of a pained soul._

 _He waved goodbye at her and left her front door, leaving her standing in the middle of her living room with a single goal in mind. Her heart cried for the loss of her sister, but the road to mending needed to be taken with the first step of her changing herself. If she was going to get past it, than she'll have Fairy Tail's support right behind her every step of the way and hopefully have the ice mage help guide her as well. Her new journey would begin with Fairy Tail at her side, a new her to show the beginning of her change and the memory of Lisanna in her heart for years to come._

 _ **"Thanks Stripper King, for everything..."**_

 _FLASHBACK END_

Mira took a glance behind as the ice mage continued to stare out into space, a giggle escaping her lips as the thought of him being the reason why her life turned around so much. It goes to show that some people have the greatest impact on a person's life and the demoness was glad she could possibly share a future with that person.

 _ **"My Stripper King, I hope you're ready for your Demon Queen."**_


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note** **:** _It's been awhile since my last update on this story and I'm sorry for those waiting for the next chapter. At the moment, I'm busy with college work so it's taken a lot of my time away, but I'll try to get another chapter as soon as possible. Sorry that this chapter's a little short this time around, but I wanted to give you guys something to read. The final stages and chapters are almost coming for this story, so I hope you're all ready for those to come. Rambling aside, let's get on with the chapter! Review and enjoy everyone!_

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Chapter 19

While Gray was going through a personal crisis as he walked back to the guild alongside Mira, a more presentent matter was at hand. While Earthland remained as it's usual self with life going about its business, the Celestial Spirit World was in a much more tense state. Nine of the twelve Zodiacs all sat at the main table within the Grand Hall, awaiting for the reason as to why they were all called together on short notice. These nine were none other than Lucy's keys and many of them had no idea what was going on aside from Loke initiating an emergency meeting at the Grand Hall. As if on cue, Loke had walked right through the doorway with a hard pressed look on his face which lowered all the chatter within the room once he sat down at his place at the head of the table.

"Alright everyone, I've gathered you all here because a major problem has come up regarding the entire situation with Gray and over a dozen people who are infatuated with him. Our very own Luce being one of them." He began as the other spirits listened attentively, many of which were well aware of the meeting that took place a few days ago.

"Well get on with it, that stripper's already already gotten on my bad side as it is." Aquarius spoke up angrily towards the lion spirit as she crossed her arms, only to calm down in seconds when her boyfriend grabbed her hand.

"The problem is that all this was the result of a failed attempt at getting Gray's affection with Juvia being the perpetrator behind it." A few murmurs escaped their lips after Loke took a brief pause and wasn't really surprised as no one seemed to be shocked by the news.

"If that was the situation, then why call all of us to explain it? Don't these kinds of things tend to resolve themselves at some point?" Aries asked in a meek voice as a number of her fellow spirits agreed with her.

"Is the self settling taking too long and you have asked us to give you a little guidance to speed up the process?" Capricorn asked, examining all the possible reasons to himself as he sat stoically in his seat.

"You're both really close of hitting it right on the Jewel with your guesses, but this problem won't be able to go away by itself this time. Not to mention the fact that once the truth is revealed I don't know how it will end for them and everyone else that has been affected." Loke replied as Capricorn scratched his chin in deep thought, while Aries began to twiddle with her fingers in a shy manner.

"If you make a bad cut when revealing the truth, then the whole style about their relationship would need a massive makeover, am I wrong baby?" Cancer said, voicing his thoughts on what could happen if this wasn't handled carefully.

"He's right, the truth is a hard target to hit and if you're not careful with how you line it up, then the person will miss what exactly you're trying to mean. In this case it's saying that Miss Lucy's true feelings for Gray were not conjured up."

"We could just transform into Lucy, so he knows that she really does like him and it wasn't thanks to whatever Juvia might have accidentally done that made her like him." The Gemini twins replied in unison as their speciality would be very useful for that situation.

Loke went into deep thought about what the twins had said and upon seeing the good that comes from it he replied to their suggestion. "That would work, but it still leaves us needing to tell them about the evident problem that's going around them."

Everyone went silent as they still were overlooking the important factor in all of this and no one had a real answer as to what they should do. Many of the spirits were stumped on what needed to be done, with the only sound in the room being the joyful coos coming from the three Nikora that were playing with each other. Plue being on of them naturally, since he was around Lucy most of the time out in Earth Land. Though the quietness of the room was grating on a certain mermaid's nerves and decided to say something since no one had an idea.

"I say you should only tell the Stripper Boy and leave the brat in the dark." Aquarius spoke up, breaking the silence as the other spirits tried to wrap their heads around the idea.

"Why wouldn't we tell Lucy?" Loke asked the obvious question that a few others shared with him.

"Isn't it obvious? Whatever failed attempt this was has helped the little sap gain her voice and stand up for herself." Aquarius retorted; however, she wouldn't deny the slight surge of pride that she felt when she saw Lucy stand up for herself.

"My babe's right, Lucy's been more into finding ways to outmatch Juvia and isn't afraid to talk back compared to how she was before." Scorpio added as Aquarius had pink hearts floating off the top of her head as she was praised by him.

"Princess has become more open with her love interest as well as taking charge of her situation no matter what in recent days. She even wishes to do this on her own without our help as well." Virgo chimed in as the other Zodiac have also noticed the lack of involvement they were doing, aside from Plue even though he's just around to give Lucy company.

"Her determination mooooves me, just like her body, but if she really wishes to have Gray at her side then this raging bull will calm down and accept it." Taurus said as the others remembered what happened after all that preparation she did with Natsu, only to have it be nothing but a misunderstanding on her part.

"But there is more to the problem at hand which includes how Gray will feel about this, right Loke?" Aries had taken into account that they needed to see the bigger picture, which was of Lucy **and** Gray together and how he would feel about this.

"You're right about that. If I know Gray, then it'll take much needed precaution when talking to him that this was the fault of an Emotion Potion. Before you ask, it causes person B to feel the same way person A feels to them, it was dubbed that and the explanation is kinda weird but trust me the results are what we see now."

"Well Loke, aside from your rather confusing explanation of how the Emotion Potion works, the young man seems capable of understanding what the problem is and will easily comply with trying to reverse the effects as need be." Capricorn said in his ever so stoic manner of speech.

"Cap's got a point, we've seen how level headed they guy can be in combat so this won't be so hard for him to get in comparison." Scorpio added seeing as he had seen the ice mage in action at one point when he was the last spirit Lucy could summon until she could regain a little more magic.

"I'm not saying he won't help, the issue is how he'll deal with it on an emotional level." Loke said in response to their claims; however, Aquarius wasn't so sure as to what he was alluding to.

"What do you mean? Stripper Boy's got enough self-esteem to do what he does in broad daylight and he's tough enough to go head-to-head with that little pyromaniac the brat calls a best friend. So what's a little bit of bad news going to do to him?"

"He's physically capable of doing just about anything and and he strips subconsciously, plus he's learned not to care about it. What that news will do to him is reseal his heart in ice again and won't let anybody back in again, this time for good." The other Zodiac spirits could see how serious Loke was as he explained to them what would happen, but they silently questioned if that could really be true.

"How come? How come?" The twins chanted and far be it from Loke not to tell them, since he very well knows they'll bother him to no end until he gives in. With a defeated sigh, he decided to tell all about his findings into the person that is Gray Fullbuster.

"I've learned over the years that he's constantly thinking that if someone got close to him, they would end up losing their life. I don't understand how he got that way, but there was a time he did open up once only to be left heartbroken. That was the second time he sealed himself off from getting too close to other people."

"Surely he trusts our Lucy's unspoken words when she asked him that question back at his home?" Aries was a hopeful spirit, given her past masters, and believed that the ice mage wasn't so dense to see Lucy's underlying confession.

"He does, but he has a lot to deal with since two of the closest people he's had since his childhood have already confessed to him. One of them was the girl who broke his heart the first time." Loke looked troubled and personally pitied his stripping friend and his dilemma, although this triggered a certain secretively protective spirit into a bout of anger.

"So that bastard is three-timing _**MY**_ brat! He better hope he can live off at see for years to come once I get my hands on him." An angry Aquarius seethed, causing Loke to act fast and have Scorpio try and calm her down.

"No! This is the effect of that damn potion, not of his own doing. It's hard on him due to the fact he has no experience with this at all and he's looked after those two in his own way, just like they've done for him." Gray was a good friend of the lion spirit and Loke wouldn't accept any other person to look after Lucy besides the guild itself.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Aquarius questioned, irritated with how this conversation was going.

"We tell him the truth, but we've also got to tell him that what Lucy feels for him is genuine and had nothing to with that potion whatsoever."

"It's a well enough plan Loke, but how do you suggest we handle with the fact that a number of their guild mates are under its influence." Capricorn asked as a knowing smirk appeared on Loke's face.

"I've got two solutions to deal with it, but I've decided that one of them is to be kept as a backup plan." He replied with a new grin plastered on his face, but Cancer believed that there's still another thing that needs to be accounted for.

"I'd say that settles the aftermath, but what we need to decide is if it's a better time to do it now or later, baby. I vote to get it over with now, so come on everyone vote what you think should be done."

"I vote for now, plus if this guy's just as much of a man outside of combat then our Lucy's found her match." Scorpio said raising his hand in agreement as his metallic tail straightened a bit too.

"I'll stand with my man and vote for now, but the Stripper Boy's got to earn my acceptance." Aquarius said as she too raised her hand.

"We vote now! We vote now!" The twins chanted in unison as they raised their little stumps as well.

"I too vote for now and hope to receive punishment from Princess in the end when she finds out or even from her Prince." Virgo said as a chuckle escaped Loke's lips, seeing as how even Virgo is accepting Gray as Lucy's "Prince".

"I had a mild interest to see how this would play out, but I believe it's much more suitable to take care of the situation as soon as possible." Capricorn said in a bemused tone, one that was very out of character for him as he raised his hand, but he looked over the last two who have yet to say much in the discussion. "What about you two? What do you choose Taurus, Sagittarius?"

Those two were having their own conversation about the different pros and cons of allowing Gray be with Lucy, but two major pros played greater factors in their decision. That being his skill as a marksman, which Sagittarius had noticed on a number of occasions when he was called upon, and his proficiency with melee combat, undoubtedly recognized by Taurus as he too on occasion witnessed his prowess at wielding his own ice weapons and endurance in combat. Aside from those two pros, the rest were practical matters, interestingly enough about ways he could help benefit Lucy if this became a long term thing and saw the positive (as well as the negative) outcomes to their union. In the end, they decided to follow Aquarius' approach and see how well he fares, he's got their respect yet he still needs to thoroughly prove that he has what it takes to be someone worth Lucy.

"We choose now as well." Sagittarius answered for the both of them, making the vote unanimous since Aries would simply follow the majority of her friends' choice.

"Well, it seems that it's settled then, plus Plue's notified me that he and the other Nikora choose Gray and hope to see him again." Aries commented as she picked up Plue to sit on the table, followed by the other two Nikora he was playing with, all of which were shaking in either joy or something else.

 _ **"Huh, guess the little guys enjoy having the ice bastard around too."**_ Loke thought to himself, before he began speaking to his fellow spirits again. "Alright it's been decided, so who's going to tell him?" A simple questioned was all that Loke asked, but he was met with confused stares pointed at him. "What?"

"You're the closest one to him out of all of us Lover Boy, so it's your job to tell him." Aquarius remarked as the others agreed, but they hadn't noticed the slight twitch of Loke's eye from behind his glasses as he straightened out his tie.

"Okay fine I'll go, but please Aries come with me so he doesn't punch my amazingly handsome face again." The strawberry blonde spirit sounded confident at first, but it turned into a whine with his chin resting on the table mid-way through his sentence and all the way to the end. Aries simply giggled at their leader and nodded her head.

"Sure thing, hopefully he'll be kind to us after we tell him." She said meekly as he raised his head from up off the table with a smile plastered on his face again.

"Don't worry, he may lose his cool, but he wouldn't hurt you. Me on the other hand, there is a sure bet that he'll slug me if I'm not paying attention." He joked as he believed that he's finally gathered enough support do get on with his plan to change everything back to way it once was. "Now with that set in motion, this meeting is now over. Thank you for coming together everyone and let's combine our power to make sure Lucy comes out on top!"

"Aye!" They all agreed happily as now they have all decided the future for the budding romances pitted towards Gray.

"Before you go Loke, I have a question to ask of you." Capricorn said as the curiosity was evident in his tone.

"I'm all ears, go ahead and ask." He replied while the others stayed a little while longer to listen on to the question and the lion spirit's answer.

"What are the plans you have to counter the effects of the potion exactly?"

"The main one is a counter solution that I had some complications obtaining, but is a fool-proof plan that will be able to undue the potion." Loke replied, but this time Aries spoke up before Capricorn could follow up.

"And what's the back up then?" The pink haired spirit could faintly see Loke's eyes change into another expression, whether it was a solemn stare or a disapproving one she couldn't really tell with his glasses in the way. He spoke again after giving a quiet sigh to himself; his friends, his family awaiting his answer with interested looks.

"We'll need to use Moon Drip..."


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note:** _Hello all you beautiful people, hope your days are doing fine and I'll try to make it a bit better with a new chapter for all of you. Things are coming to a close and a part of is excited for finishing my first fic and the other part is sad it's ending. I'll save all that for the ending, for now let's get this chapter underway! Review and enjoy everyone!_

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Chapter 20

The following day things weren't looking so good on Gray who had the mindset that the bar counter was a suitable pillow, all the while he tried to zone out all the noise from the guild. He had gotten word that Loke was looking for him all day yesterday, but the ice mage had taken the safer route of going home instead of heading back to the guild with Mira. Mainly due in part of the fact that Erza could easily tell when Mira was up to something and could crack down on those who had also been involved as well. In the end though, nothing really happened and Loke was left with no Gray in sight although the ice mage knew he could catch up with him later today if it was important.

At the moment he couldn't really think about what Loke might want with him since he was still trying to wake up from his drowsy state, but help came in the form of an iced coffee placed in front of him. Gray had momentarily flinched when it was placed down as he expected to be greeted by the ever so bright smile that belonged to Mira, but was in a way relieved when he was met with bright green eyes and dark hair. At least Kinana was someone that wasn't staring at him as if he was on display or something; of course Gray wasn't so self-conscious out of the guild, but it felt much more different when it came to his guild mates doing that instead.

"Thanks Kinana, but I didn't order this." Gray said as the purple haired girl gave a quick smile before she went away to deliver the next order.

"Don't worry about Gray, Mira said she'll put it on her own tab this time." She replied, moving away from the counter to give the person their order which left the raven haired young man without a chance at giving his own reply.

"Well thanks Mira..." He sighed as he took a sip of the welcomed coffee, while he searched in his pocket for any loose Jewel to pay Mira back with. The ice mage was too distracted to see a certain blue flying cat land right next to him with his morning fish within his paws.

"You look exhausted Gray." Happy chirped as the said mage turned to look at his rival's furry companion chomp away at his fish.

"Do I? Probably because I couldn't get a wink of sleep last night." Gray replied as he staved off the urge to yawn and get another sip of his coffee, slightly hoping the caffeine would kick in at any moment to wake him up.

"Oh, how come?" The blue cat asked as sleep deprivation wasn't a common thing when it came to the ice mage, well as of recent anyway, since it was a small problem when he was younger.

"Let's just say it was due to nightmares of a monster and a she-demon ripping me apart." In that very moment, Gray couldn't help but let a tingle go down his spine just from the retelling.

"Dark..." Was all Happy could reply with as he looked up at the raven haired mage.

"Nah, it's a lot more tamed in comparison to other ones I've had to deal with, but it's still pretty scary nonetheless." If Gray had to be honest, it was a fright fest all in one night, but they were still less terrifying compared to other nightmares he's had.

"I wouldn't really know a lot about your other nightmares, but I still get what you're saying." Gray's dreams were hardly ever talked about unless he was willing to share, so Happy really didn't know much about the things he dreams about. Although he has speculated that he might've dreamt about ice fishing once in the past.

"Guess you're right, but anyways where's Natsu?I would've thought you'd be with him or with Wendy and Carla." Gray knew that Happy was his own free spirit; however, he still would hang around places almost everyone certainly knew he'd be. So him being alone in the guild was one of the uncommon things, that's if he wasn't waiting for Lily in the meantime.

"He had some sort of meet up or something to go to and both Wendy and Carla went along with him." The blue cat replied as he continued to munch away at a brand new fish, slowly creating a pile of skeletal fish next to him.

"And he left you here?"

"No, I chose to stay behind. The guild's getting a shipment of fresh fish soon and I want first dibs on the fattest one they bring in." Simple reasons for a simple minded cat, but there really wasn't much anybody could do that wouldn't change him.

"Well, I can't fault you for being yourself, besides I was wondering if you know anything about what's been happening behind the scenes at the guild." Things sure have been getting strange and Grays began to notice the difference in people as he started taking note of the things that happen around him.

"Like what?"

"For starters; some people look pretty nervous every time I walk by or just stutter if I want to talk to them." He didn't really notice it at first, but gradually he had taken into account that they hardly look him in the eye anymore, like they just immediately stop around his lips or his chin.

"Maybe they're scared of you or Little Gray is in their face and they don't want to make eye contact with him." Happy replied as he turned to face the guild, catching a few glimpses of people looking their way for some reasoning, but he really couldn't tell what.

"I guess I do tend to lose my underwear at times..." as Gray said this he had realized that his pants were missing and Happy had now acknowledged the reason why everyone was staring. "When did that happen?!" After a little search and dusting off his legs, Gray sat back in his stool next to Happy.

"Okay back to what I was saying, then could you give a reason as to why Laxus gave me death glares when I wasn't facing Evergreen as she tried to talk to me yesterday before I left with Mira?" He could feel a cold hard gaze on him and it was unsettling after he made eye contact with Laxus, needless to say that the blonde haired lightning mage didn't look so pleased.

"That's Laxus for you. I'm sure he wanted to make sure people respect both him and his Thunder Legion." Happy replied taking a quick glance over Laxus' table as they all sat together talking to one another as the big man himself sat with his eyes closed and his arms crossed.

"I'm surprised that you seem to be on top things like this Happy." Gray knew the blue furred cat was just as gullible as his care taker, but he truly seemed informed based on the things he's asked so far.

"Aye, people don't give me enough credit on how smart I can be. My eyes and smarts can tell a lot, even where your eyes have been looking at Gray." Happy said with a teasing tone and a knowing look, although Gray was a bit lost on what he meant by that.

"What do you mean?"

"Everybody else may not have noticed, but you do look at Lucy differently then the rest of the girls." Quicker than the eye could see, Gray's gaze hardened as he looked down at Happy who felt the air grow colder around him and with that so did the bar counter and his fish.

"Who told you?!" In an instant, Happy felt that he may be in danger as Gray continued to glare at him and with the low tone of his voice didn't help his confidence to say he could be wrong. "Talk now before I make a catscicle for the flaming idiot."

"Wahh, I was just joking! I don't really know what you're talking about!" Happy cried as he rarely saw Gray change moods so fast without Natsu around.

"Tch, jumped the gun again." The ice mage grumbled to himself as the cat began to calm down as he noticed Gray back off and simmer down in his seat. _**"I've got to stop doing that!"**_

"So you do like her, and here I thought you were being a pervert just getting an eye full of her shirt." Happy once again teased, but he began to feel another cold stare on him that stopped him from laughing.

"Still on some very thin ice Happy, so choose your words carefully."

"I'm sorry!"

"Look I'm trusting you to not say anything to anyone, alright? If you keep quiet then I'll let this slip and call it even." The blue cat raised his paw in understanding and Gray took it as a sign that at least he'd keep quiet for the time being.

"Deal, but do you think you could unfreeze my fish?" Happy asked as he raised his frozen fish so that Gray could see the results of what he unconsciously did.

"Oh, my bad. Let's get back on topic, for now how about giving an answer to this then. Do you have any idea as to why the others are separated in groups?" He asked as he instantly unfroze Happy's fish, but the blue furred cat didn't look like he had a care if they were still cold. "I already knew everyone had their own group to be with, but it feels like something's going on between them in the shadows."

"Sorry Gray, I don't have a clue either. Maybe there's some sort of competition going on, like a fish eating contest and everyone's training hard to out do the other." The emotion named cat replied as Gray smirked to himself at the cat's one track mind.

 _ **"Fish is almost everything on his brain..."**_ Gray thought to himself as he gave a short chuckle at Happy's simple answer. "Well if it's something like that then I don't want any part of it. I've got plenty to keep me busy as it is, so I don't want something like that riding on my shoulders too."

"Don't worry Gray, I'll take your place so I could get double the fish!" Happy cheered as he saw an opportunity to land him so more delicious fish.

"You have my permission to do so, all I want is time to myself so I can think clearly for a change." Gray sighed as confusion was becoming a routine thing for him in the last couple of days and he hoped the cycle would end soon.

"If that's what you need then I'll be on my way and hang out with Lily. Good luck with whatever you need to do Gray." Happy said as he sprouted his wings and went off in search of the black furred Exceed. _**"But I doubt being left alone is going to happen"**_

"See ya later Happy." Gray called out to the leaving Exceed as he turned back to what was left of his iced coffee. _**"Damn, maybe I should've told the little fuzzball to stay. Nothing I can do about it now though, I just got to hope nothing more'll happen today."**_

Gray had to eat his own words after that...

* * *

Ever since Happy left him he was quickly approached by Juvia to help her out with picking a new style for herself, something about becoming a Juvia 2.5 or whatever it was. Of course Gray had nothing better to do and he certainly wasn't about to help her change into a new style like she had been doing since the GMG, so he politely shot her down.

That did little to deter her from being with him as she went on about how it was important to change her style up for him. He quickly retorted that what she wore wasn't going to change how he thought of her, which that in itself started a whole new conversation that derailed more than once on her behalf which left Gray to get her back on topic. Thankfully (and surprisingly) enough she puffed her cheeks in determination and set out to try and "shame her Love Rivals" with a new look, leaving the ice mage alone once again if only for a moment.

No sooner did he get a second's break did Macao call out to him to come over to his table, leaving the raven haired mage to think that he was going to be needed in some sort of petty argument between him and Wakaba. After being told the argument, Gray wasn't surprised at how accurate he was when he arrived to that conclusion. As for the argument; it came about when Wakaba had argued that he had the most influence over him, while Macao hardly made a difference and vice versa. This lead into specifics on how Wakaba got Gray into smoking a few years back and how Macao shaped the young man's dress style with the use of a long coat (which did look like a better style on Gray than himself, but he wasn't going to admit that to anyone).

Gray however, had no real clue as to how this conversation ever started, but if he needed to say something than he gave them his own opinion. On Wakaba's behalf he admitted that he got into smoking thanks to the old man's habit, although it was mainly to help cope with the stress he was under at the time. He continued on to say that he quit cold turkey since the health risks were starting to get to him thanks to the old bat in the forest after his regular examinations and found other ways to ease the stress from himself. Of course Macao took this as a victory and rubbed it in the other older man's face, but Gray was far from finished.

He turned on Macao and explained that the style was very suitable for a look he was searching for, but it did have a couple of draw backs. These ran from the price of getting multiple in the event that he stripped one off and lost it somewhere to having to clean it after being in combat as dirt marks, blood or any other substance tended to fall on it. He was still appreciative for the clothing tips, but as of late he's started to wear just a regular short sleeved dress shirt or a plain T at the guild. Nonetheless he would often still wear a coat and usually took one with him when he goes off on a job, but somehow makes it back with it being just as clean as the day he left.

In the end neither one of the old men won the argument and Gray took his leave, this time going for an empty booth instead of the bar counter. Every one else seemed to be occupied with their own affairs so the raven haired mage took this as a sign that he would get some time to himself, but that thought was quickly dashed away when Evergreen had come up to him. She had looked very nervous and her cheeks had an interesting rosy tint to them which was hardly present on the green haired woman, but she still spoke in her haughty tone to him. She had asked him to accompany her and give his opinion on a few dresses she was getting, obviously Gray wasn't about to go dress shopping with the self claiming 'Fairy Queen' when Elfman could do it.

Although he agreed due to Elfman not being anywhere in sight and Laxus giving him another threatening glare which left no room for excuses on Gray's behalf. So there he was an hour later looking at the sixteenth dress Ever was trying on so he could give his opinion, to which he was being honest about else he'd get his ass handed to him by Laxus later. Gray had no idea how he was so easily swayed into doing something so girly as this, but he mostly blamed it on his lack of energy to argue about it and to put up a decent defense against a possible ass whoop from mister tall, blonde and scary. With a hidden happiness, Gray was glad Evergreen soon finished going through all of them and decided to get six out of the nineteen dresses she looked at.

The ice mage felt like he was being taken advantage of from these past request in the last couple of days and he had just noticed how demeaning it has become after he was asked (secretly threatened) to go with Ever. How he was doing something that was so out of character was beyond him, like some greater power was making him go through all this boring torment for no reason what so ever. He was just glad that he was allowed to leave and go back to the guild with some sort of his masculinity intact, but that was soon challenged just as he opened the guild doors.

Gajeel was busy riling up Elfman into a fight when he caught sight of the ice mage and tried to get him into the fight as well. Gray proved to be the stronger man as he wasn't so easily swayed, but his tired patience could only extend so far until he cracked and it came at the point when Gajeel questioned if he truly was a man. The pierced slayer taunted him by questioning if he really was a man or simply one who prefers having woman qualities, like dress shopping. Gray's blood boiled as he was ensnared into the trap and was the first to charge, much to his chagrin Gajeel simply dodged him most of the time and simply went for grapples instead of throwing punches.

Elfman had joined in as well and soon enough a guild brawl started with Gray knocking out more of his guild mates then his preferred target. Somehow, it ended with Gray being the only conscious person amidst the fallen bodies with both Elfman and Gajeel being knocked out by what Gray could only describe as a circular food try boomeranging towards some part of the guild and out of his sight as he couldn't see to whose hand it landed in. The ice mage was impressed with his work, but still was interested on who had quite the through and ability to use such a mundane item as a potent weapon. Either way the fight was over and he hoped that was all that was left of people disturbing him for the time being.

So here he was a few hours into the afternoon later, back at the bar counter with his body slumped over it in exhaustion. He couldn't believe how much he could be made to do in such a small time frame, but here he was with all of it completed like it didn't even happen.

"Been a long day Gray?" Came the sweet voice of one Lisanna Strauss who decided to sit next to the tired ice mage.

"You have no idea..." He tiredly replied as he lifted his head to look at her, glad that it was someone he was okay with talking to for now.

"Looks like you're getting quite popular in the guild, so make sure it doesn't all go to your head, okay?" She joked as he gave her a small smirk before he replied.

"Trust me when I say I rather not be and let it all fall on Mira. She's completely used to it and here I am exhausted by it." How she could do it on such a regular basis would be a mystery he wouldn't ever solve for himself.

"Her popularity stems from the kind soul I knew she had that looked after both me and Elf-nii-chan, but she rarely showed until recently. Personally, I figured she'd be very popular years ago if she would let go of her protective attitude." Lisanna had always admired her older sister and had faith that a lot of people would come to like her if she wasn't so abrasive to others most of time when they were younger.

"Guess I wasn't the only one thinking that." Gray said aloud as he propped his elbow up on the counter and leaned his chin on his palm. "At least I have someone to talk to now." He commented off-handily after a moment of companionable silence.

"You sounded a bit disappointed there Gray, am I not able to meet your standard of someone you'll enjoy speaking with?" She feigned hurt as she spoke, but Gray could see through her little act as it still needed a little work before he was fooled.

"Try a bit harder and you would've gotten me just like Mira would," the ice mage criticized before he spoke again, "But in all seriousness, I don't think of you as unqualified since it's more lined up with trying to make sure a certain she-demon doesn't skin me for tainting her pure and innocent little sister."

"Thank you for trying to keep me pure, but in all honesty I'm far from it now." Lisanna replied as Kinana had delivered the drink she had ordered earlier to her. "Mostly due in part of the Edolas Fairy Tail, where a sharp tongue and a strong fist gets you recognized easier." She continued as she took a sip of her drink and waited on what Gray would say next.

"Really now, then how does a wet blanket like Surge or Edo-Natsu manage to stay in that kind of guild?" After seeing how wimpy they were under the circumstances, such standards made them fall short in his eyes.

"Surge had it where it counts on fighting, but it was mainly due to Juvia that he wasn't pushed around a lot verbally. As for Edo-Natsu, he has similar characteristics of our Natsu, but it was much more in thanks to Edo-Lucy that he wasn't bothered so much..." The white haired girl replied, but her voice slowly faded as the subject of Lucy and Natsu came up.

"My bad..." Gray felt bad about bringing up something that upsets Lisanna like that, it slipped and he really didn't want her to feel bad.

"No it's fine, I don't mind it that much. Besides, thanks to you I'm not going to give up so easily this time." Lisanna said as determination flashed in her eyes and Gray was relieved to hear that.

"That's the spirit, so let's change the atmosphere up and tell me the dirtiest jokes you know." Gray would rather change the subject then have it be awkward, although he was somewhat curious as to how much he really helped Lisanna get a confidence boost like that.

"Eh? B-But what if Mira-nee hears? She may think you taught me these things." She was aware of what the ice mage said earlier and knew that he wasn't that wrong when it came to her sister's protectiveness when it came to someone of her own blood.

"Good point, but let's just do it anyways. I'm sure she'll understand if you tell her about your time in Edolas." Gray was willing to hear what she had to say and Mira can be understanding so long as you explained yourself properly, which is a given if it came from her sister or Elfman for that matter.

"Oh...okay fine, but remember that I warned you." With that, Lisanna had decided to recount the jokes Lucy Ashley and the Edo-Levy would tell.

~Some Time Later~

It was the middle of the afternoon as Team E.L.L.N. plus Wendy and Carla were making their way over towards the guild. They were discussing an important matter that had come up and the difficulties that followed suit which drew them away from returning to guild for quite a while. They each had their obvious concern about leaving Gray at the hands of who ever was at the guild hall and not one of them enjoyed the thoughts that raced through their heads. To counter act these images, they started talking about the key points of their meet up and Natsu had now struck an argument between himself and Lucy over what plan was better.

"Like I said it would be better to do it my way, so it's less of a hassle to deal with than what we're doing now." Natsu retorted for the fifth time to his blonde team mate as she was adamant about agreeing with the pink haired slayers logic.

"And like I've been saying, doing a battle royale isn't the best option given to what's happened in the past. Besides, this way is much more civil and no one needs to bash each other's heads in." Lucy replied as Natsu crossed his arms in annoyance while Wendy took this time to speak up.

"It does seem fair, but Gray-nii still needs to choose and the weight of that decisions lands on his shoulders alone." Wendy said she thought about the conclusion of all of this.

"She does bring up a fair point, but we'll need to discuss this matter at a later time. Hopefully the others are not ahead of us yet..." Erza said as she opened the guild doors only to hear one of the most sexiest laugh they've ever heard coming from the bar counter.

"Is that Gray laughing?" Levy said in bewilderment as the others were still in shock to see Gray laugh in such a way; however, the who that did it wasn't sitting right with them.

Natsu looked on as his love/like interest was getting too comfortable with his best childhood friend and he didn't like it. Something inside of him twisted into a knot and he felt like pushing those two as far apart as he possibly could for some reason. It felt like the pain he had when he saw Gray holding Levy after the Gajeel incident was happening all over again, but he subconsciously reached a fist close to his heart. Lucy had looked over towards her best friend to see his face contort in a mixture of disbelief and hurt.

"Hey Natsu are you okay?" The blonde beauty asked as he simply shook his head in response to her.

"To tell you the truth Luce, not really. My chest hurts pretty bad right now and I don't know why." He replied as he braced himself to make his way over to the two.

Levy's face lit up in understanding of Natsu's answer. "Natsu could it be possible that...where'd he go?" In the instant she was about to ask him, the pink haired slayer disappeared only to be found marching his way over to Lisanna and Gray.

"He's heading straight for them, we have to stop him before he breaks a rule!" Erza cautioned as she tried to lead the rest of the group to follow him in a casual manner, but she somehow lost track of where Wendy and Carla had gone.

"Gray, Lisanna if you don't mind, can I ask you two to get an aged rum bottle in the back room? Lisanna knows where to go and here's the bottle's name, all you've got to do is help her get it and make sure Cana doesn't sneak in, alright Gray?" Mira asked as she noticed the opposing team making their way over to her sister and the ice mage, of course she was going to make sure they didn't do anything to bother them.

"Sure, no problem." Gray replied as casual as he could, given that he was still pretty nervous of how to react to Mira after what happened yesterday.

"Okay Mira-nee." Lisanna replied, but she hadn't noticed the dragon slayer who was being held back by a determined Erza. Although they hadn't caught on to what Mira was having them do and followed right after them when they were sure Gray and Lisanna weren't paying attention.

Team E.L.L.N. followed close behind them and Natsu was leading the charge, but Lucy was nervous of the unknown troubles they could get into if they were caught. The whole spying thing wasn't really her style let alone the dragon slayer's, so this wasn't the best idea to follow them at twenty feet away. Luckily they stopped as her worries were just getting to her, but the next thing that she was wondering was why Natsu had his ear to a door.

"Natsu what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to listen in on what they're doing." He replied as he pushed his ear against the door again, soon followed by Erza who was also curious.

"We all agreed to not interfere when someone has him, remember?" Levy said as Natsu turned to face her with a blank face.

"I know, it's just that I don't want to see the ice princess hang out with Lisanna or for her to do so either." Levy had a knowing face as soon as Natsu said that and turned to whisper over to Lucy's ear as the other two continued to press themselves against the door.

"Lisanna is a grown young woman Natsu, you can't make her do anything since it's her decision to do whatever she wants." Erza said in a hushed tone as her curiosity was growing stronger the more she wanted to hear what was going on behind the door.

"Yeah, so? I'm doing this because it doesn't sit well with me at all." Natsu replied in an equally hushed voice. "Something about seeing those two together really bothers me."

"Hey Lucy, do you think Natsu could be jealous based off of what he just said." Levy had been whispering her suspicions about Natsu to Lucy, but now it seemed even more inclined with what she was thinking.

"I don't really know, but from what we've seen from him it is possible that he feels tat way. The question is, who's he jealous of; Gray or Lisanna?" Lucy did wonder if the pink haired teen was cautious of Gray or was being protective of him.

"Good point Lucy, we should keep an eye on him to see what he might do." Levy replied as they both started giggling at the thought of Natsu's silly attempt at finding out that he was jealous.

"Quiet down you two, we're trying to listen in and if you two want to hear then get over here now." Erza order and with a squeak, both the bluenette and blonde rushed towards the door and placed their ears to listen in.

It took a bit of time, but they could slowly make out their individual voices talking to one another about something. It was muffled, but they tried their best to make out every word they were saying.

"Sorry Gray, I just can't hold it with both my hands hard enough." Came Lisanna's voice as she sounded to be slightly struggling with something.

"That's alright, how about you climb on top and I try instead. It'll probably be easier for you." Gray's voice suggested; however, a certain person's mind was getting suspicious of what they were saying.

"Are you sure, it looks pretty big." Lisanna said, sounding a bit nervous about going through with what Gray suggested.

"From where you are it does, but I'm sure you can handle it in you're tiger form or would you rather I pick you up?" The ice mage said with a bit of a playful tone, to which Natsu clenched his fist at. Although on Gray's behalf, he thought it was a pretty good for her to use a more agile form to get to the top of a high shelved rack.

"Haha, very funny. I more than capable of doing it myself you know." The young Strauss replied in an equal playful tone as the team could hear her transformation and a couple of other noises they couldn't quite make out.

"Good, so do you want me to hold you so you don't slip off?" Gray asked as a familiar sound of clothes rustling was starting to raise a number of red flags in each of the listeners' heads.

"No,no...you need both hands so I'll just hold onto your shoulders just in case." Lisanna replied as a little more shuffling was being heard and Gray making a slight grunting noise.

"Suit yourself, here we go." After that the only thing that Team E.L.L.N. heard was the continuous grunting of Gray as he was doing something they couldn't understand it being, although Erza and Levy had an idea of sorts but kept it to themselves.

"Careful Gray you're moving too forcefully, it might break if you keep it up." Lisanna squeaked, but what the team didn't know was the context behind it, which inadvertently increased Levy and Erza's thoughts about what was happening to intensify and cause Lucy to blush as she began to follow their train of thought.

What was really happening was Lisanna sitting atop of the rum rack as she used her weight to hold it down, while Gray tried to pull the stuck bottle out with all his strength, but it painted a different picture when you can't see what's going on. The three females of Team E.L.L.N. had come to their own conclusion with all flushed cheeks; however, Natsu wasn't so aware and had yet to fully understand what was going on.

"Sorry Lisanna, just hold out a little longer. It's coming out soon, I can feel it. Just a little more." Gray could feel the bottle loosen out of the rack, but an accidental slip of his hand caused the surrounding dust to blow out in all directions, blocking his view and for him to cough lightly as it went into his face.

"Wait Gray don't grab there~!" Lisanna couldn't help but let a slight mewl escape her lips as Gray had accidentally clutched her tail that rested off to the side. She still was in her Tigress form and had noticed the dust that blew out and how he was trying to clear it, but wasn't fast enough to warn him before the ice mage's hand grabbed her sensitive tail.

On the other side of the door, all of the eavesdropping members' faces flushed red as now they truly knew **that** was happening on the other end. Natsu was skeptical at first and tried to think of what else was going, but that noise was something he had never heard Lisanna make before and it didn't sound like she was in pain either. His fist clenched even harder as he was now barring his teeth with the want of rushing straight into the room, but he had to control himself as he just wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Even if there was plenty of (what he thought) evidence that proves it otherwise being all a misunderstanding.

"Ah, I'm really sorry about that Lisanna. Are you okay?" He asked apologetically as he let go of the fluffy appendage that belonged to the young Strauss girl.

"Yes I'm fine, please continue. I'll settle again in a few moments so there's no need to worry." She replied as she soothed her tail and herself, deciding to drop her transformation to avoid another incident like this to happen again.

"Here we go, it's coming out now." Gray said as he wiggled it a little more for the bottle to come completely out, as Lisanna made her way down the rack. Although a strange string on the side of the bottle had gained his attention. "Wait, what's this?" He said, before pulling on said string.

"Gray wait, don't!" Lisanna cried out as Gray yanked the string that held the bottle's cork in place, spilling nearly half of its contents all over her.

"Oh man, that was completely by accident Lisanna honest!" Gray exclaimed as he tried to reseal the bottle and look for something she could dry off with. "Damn it, I got it all over you."

"What the hell are you two doing!?" Natsu couldn't take it anymore and barged in with a blitz of anger, not caring about what state he was about to see them in. If both Gray and Lisanna weren't distracted by the raging slayer, they would've noticed the three girls who fell in after he opened the door that tried to make a hasty recovery back onto their feet.

"Natsu!?" Lisanna said, surprised by his sudden appearance and quickly trying to cover up where her wet clothes were beginning to stick to.

"What's it look like flame breath, we're trying to get a rum bottle for Mira." Gray said as he stared at his rival, whose eyes looked ready to beat someone into next week.

"Then why's your coat in your hands!?" He questioned, he's heard enough and wasn't going to stand for lame excuses like trying to get a rum bottle. Seriously, he wasn't born yesterday.

"So she can cover up where the rum got spilled on her, detective." Gray sarcastically replied to his questioning as he handed his coat over towards Lisanna.

"And your pants?"

"When the hell did that hap-; you know what, never mind. Look I was doing Mira a favor, is there something wrong with helping someone out?" Gray crossed his arms after locating and putting his pants back on, not necessarily in the brightest moods to deal with Natsu's stupidity. Especially in a closed off room like this.

"No, not really but how do I know that you're not lying?" The pinkette questioned, which caused an audible groan to escape Gray's lips as he found him saying another stupid question after the other.

"Don't worry Natsu, Gray's telling the truth. Besides, what else could we possibly be doing?" She asked with a smile, while awkward laughter and smiles came from the others in the room.

"Alright fine, but I've got my eye on you ice princess." Natsu said making hand movement describing what he had just said which earned an eye roll from the ice mage.

"Yeah whatever you say charcoal for brains, like I care. Anyways, what are you guys doing here?" Gray directed his question towards the fact that they all were here in the first place, rather than out front.

"We heard a commotion in this area and went to check it out." Levy chirped as she quickly thought on her feet before Lisanna could fault them for breaking a rule and telling Mira about this.

"Y-Yeah that's it, we thought Natsu might've found someone back here that wasn't Cana, right Erza?" Lucy tried to add a bit more to help boost their alibi, but she was too nervous to really go any further and hoped the red head could include something else.

"Yes, we believed that someone was elop-...er, invading our wares back here and Natsu had caught them." Erza internally face palmed at her slip up and hoped they didn't catch, which she wasn't alone in as the other girls also hoped her save might actually hope.

"Well there's no need to be on guard anymore, it's just us getting, well, what's left of a rum bottle Mira needed us to get." Gray said as he raised the half full rum bottle for them to see, a new ice cork to keep it closed since he couldn't find it's original.

"Why exactly did she have you two retrieve that one specifically, if I may ask?" Erza was trying to divert the conversation away from them so there's less chance of them getting in trouble for this encounter.

"Not really sure, probably for Gramps when he comes back from his meeting. You know how much he likes to drink a cold one or fifteen after on of those meetings." Gray suggested, since the old man was always seen trying to drink away all the pent up annoyance he had from either a guild masters meeting or one from the council.

"Although it's nice to have a chat with friends, I really should go and get changed before Cana sticks to me for smelling this way." Lisanna spoke up as she still was wet and covered in rum. "Don't worry about your coat Gray, I'll get it cleaned up and back to you in no time flat."

"Don't sweat it, wouldn't be the first time its smelled like booze and it certainly won't be the last." Gray commented as Lisanna bid farewell to them and made her way back to her sister with the bottle in her hand.

"I guess my work here is done, but would you guys care to tell me where have you been all day?" Gray asked as he began walking back with the rest of his team and Levy towards their table in the main part of the guild.

"Oh you know Gray, just doing girly things at my house..." Lucy replied vaguely as he raised an eyebrow to her.

"With Natsu?"

"She had free food, I couldn't resist." Obviously Natsu stayed with the more common thing Gray knew about him whenever he went to Lucy's house, so it should provide a good enough reason for the ice mage.

"Well alright then, but you guys better let me know ahead of time so I'm not bored out of my mind." Gray said, although he was still skeptical about Natsu's answer but he wasn't that up to dwelling on it any further.

"Duly noted, but for now let's just get back to our regular table." Lucy chimed, but she was stopped as an arm wrapped itself around her shoulder from a glittering light source.

"Slow down gorgeous, I'm afraid I need to take the prince of underwear with me for a bit." Loke said as he flashed her a flirty smile, but team E.L.L.N. was none too happy that he'd be taking away their Gray.

"Loke..." Lucy said through gritted teeth as the lion kept springing up in the most obnoxious of times as of late.

"Sorry Luce, but I need a little bro time with my wing-man." He said with a charming smile as he began to drag Gray out of the guild leaving the rest of the group with exasperated breaths as their chance literally was taken away from them.

* * *

"You've got me Loke, but if this is one of those "special" moments and you give me your blessing again, I'm apologizing to Lucy for knocking out one of her spirits." Gray said as Loke led him through the streets of Magnolia.

"Why didn't you when you hit me the last time!?" He cried out as he remembered the sucker punch the ice mage had given him when he questioned his sexuality.

"Because you were still conscious." Gray cheekily replied with a smirk which seemed to have annoyed Loke even more.

"Oh ha ha, nice loop hole you bastard." Loke said with hidden glare from behind his sunglasses, but he couldn't really be mad at him because of what he'll have to do soon.

"I try..."

"Whatever, just keep up with me and I'll tell you what I need from you." Loke guided Gray through many of Magnolia's districts for some time, but Gray quickly started to recognize the streets as old pick up spots Loke would go and find chicks.

"This better not be another elaborate plan to get more chicks for you Loke." Gray didn't recognize them at first, but after a while he started to see a pattern and it began to tick him off every time he wanted to "hang out" for a bit.

"You're not still mad about that are you? Thanks to you, I managed to beat my own record." Loke smiled at his old friend and was genuinely happy that it was thanks to his efforts, he helped him set a record that none of those Blue Pegasus boys have ever beaten.

"Yeah, while I was mostly eye candy to draw in more girl for you by the hour." Gray bit back bitterly as he'd be approached by girls in sets of two with the most being six.

"Aw lighten up will ya Gray, it's like what I told you last time; I swear you smell like catnip because all the p-..." Loke couldn't finish his sentence as a small block of ice was shoved into his mouth, by none other than Gray.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah I get it. Just don't finish that sentence." When Loke nodded in agreement, he melted the ice in his mouth and let him cough up the water that came from the ice block.

"Can't deny it man, pretty soon the student will surpass the master." Loke commented in a joking manner as their main destination was coming into view.

"If you need me to help you get more chicks, then I'm sure I've already surpassed you a long time ago." Gray said with a smug smile as Loke slightly deflated at how solid the ice mage's reasoning was.

"Aren't we getting a little cocky? Just remember who taught you to use your features for personal and useful things." Gray did have to admit that thanks to Loke he managed to play it cool enough to get information out of someone (even intimidate), smooth talk his way through almost anything and get a little tail here and there.

"No problem oh wise master. Even so, I still got more than half a mind to say that you're buttering me up for something Loke." Gray had taken into account their surroundings and were at the park nearby the river's railing with hardly anyone around, leaving Gray puzzled as to why they were doing here until he moved his attention back on Loke who let out a loud sigh.

"You manage to deduce this so easily, but you're as dense as a rock when it comes to other things." Loke huffed as Gray was just down right confused now of what in the name of Mavis was happening.

"What do you mean Loke, I think I'm pretty perceptive." Gray replied as Loke simply readjusted his glasses with his ring finger, giving off a weird and mysterious feeling for some reason.

"No Gray, I don't think you are, otherwise you would've easily seen what I've been trying to do." Loke was being vague and one thing that Gray didn't like is when people are being too vague that they hardly leave little meaning to what they are saying.

"So spit it out then, what have you been trying to tell me?" Gray asked as he leaned against the railing with his arms crossed."

"It's not that easy to do Gray, if it was then I would've already told you." Loke replied which was now starting to piss Gray off with all this back and forth with them not even getting on the subject at all.

"Loke tell me already, before I knock it out of you." Gray said in a stern voice causing Loke to collect himself before he took a step closer to Gray.

Gray looked at him with a curious eye as Loke came closer, wondering what the strawberry blonde had to say. By the way he was acting it sounded pretty important, but then again it was always a gamble with how Loke would present something either serious or not. Loke was now no more than a two feet away and he stared into Gray's eyes with determination, making the ice mage actually cautious about what he was going to say next.

"Gray Fullbuster, I love you and I want you." He said aloud with a charming grin as he looked into Gray's dark blue eyes.

"What the actual FUCK!"


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note:** _Things are getting heated and although given the genre types, there's gonna be some drama going on as well. Aside from that, there's not much to say on my end, so let's get this chapter underway! Hope you all enjoy it!_

* * *

Chapter 21

 _Last time..._

 _Gray looked at him with curious eyes as Loke came closer, wondering what the strawberry blonde had to say. By the way he was acting it sounded pretty important, but then again it was always a gamble with how Loke would present something either serious or not. Loke was now no more than two feet away and he stared into Gray's eyes with determination, making the ice mage actually cautious about what he was going to say next._

 _"Gray Fullbuster, I love and and I want you." He said aloud with a charming grin as he looked into Gray's dark blue eyes._

 _"What the actual FUCK!"_

* * *

 **Now...**

"Loke, what in Mavis' name are you saying!?" Gray couldn't believe what he had just said, it was one thing that his childhood friends were confessing to him, along with Natsu, but to have Loke doing so as well was just becoming too much to bear.

"I know it's sudden, but I needed to get it off my chest." Loke replied coolly as a breeze swept past them, although Gray was confused beyond what he thought was possible.

"Damn right that it's sudden! You were into chicks the last time I saw you and have been ever since I've met you!" The ice mage couldn't help but yell as this was just becoming too wrong for his daily life and that in itself couldn't necessarily be called normal.

"Please Gray, I just couldn't hold back this feeling anymo-" Loke couldn't finish his sentence as he slowly began to giggle to himself until it turned into a bout of laughter. He held his sides as he found the situation too hilarious all the while Gray looked at him as if he had gone insane.

"What is wrong with you man!? First, you tell me you love me and now you laugh like a maniac?" Gray was trying to make sense of the situation until it clicked in his mind as to what the lion spirit had done. "Damn you Loke, you're just asking for my boot up your ass!"

"What boot?" The strawberry blonde asked as Gray looked down to find out that not only was he missing his shirt, but he was also standing in his socks. With little effort, he put his clothing back on and glared harshly towards the spirit.

"You better have a good reason to pull something like that on me you bastard, I'm already dealing with enough as it is to have you trigger me any further." Gray crossed his arms in annoyance, trying to ease up on the strain he was putting on himself and lean right back on the railing.

"Geez, I was just yanking your chain a bit for a few laughs, but I didn't think you'd be a big baby about it." Loke replied to the ice mage, but he opted to answer him for real as said mage growled at him for giving him that answer. "If you really want to know, I did it to shake off the tension that was building up."

"What tension? Everything was fine until you pulled that joke on me." Gray didn't see anything that was really wrong as they walked, so he wondered what was going on that he wasn't seeing.

"There wasn't any between us, it was mainly on me." The ice mage looked at him with a puzzled expression as Loke straightened out his tie and once again put on a serious face. "Look Gray, what you're gonna hear is probably gonna be one of the hardest things to accept."

"Loke just get on with it, not telling me is just grinding on my nerves as it is." Gray still remained leaning against the railing, however, Loke could tell that the ice mage had taken heed of his words and seemed to be prepared for whatever he was going to hear.

Gray waited for Loke to say something, instead a flash of shimmering gold began to form beside the lion spirit and the fluffy dressed Aries had appeared. The ice mage was confused at this new development as he hadn't expected for the pink haired spirit to emerge without Lucy around, but what caught his interest even more was the sad gaze she wore and how Loke was trying to hide away behind her. Gray raised a questioning eyebrow at her as he noticed that she was trying to steel herself for something, exactly what that was he had a bad feeling of finding it out pretty soon.

"Gray I'm so sorry to say this, but there is something you must know." Gray nodded to her as a way of telling her to continue as the fluffy spirit fidgeted with her fingers nervously. "T-The people w-who are infatuated with you, really aren't! Loke discovered that not one of them may have feelings for you aside from our Lucy!" Aries blurted out in one nervous breath as she was completely unsure of how to approach him, especially if he received Scorpio's approval for his feats in combat.

Both spirits watched as he went rigid at her claim, his eyes widening in surprise to discover the truth as his face was quickly darkened by the shadow of his hair. From how nervous Loke was being to Scorpio's claims, Aries had prepared herself to create a wool wall for her protection just in case something were to happen as she truly had no idea what the ice mage was capable of. Another breeze swept by as Gray hadn't said a word and Loke was becoming slightly more anxious with each passing second without the raven haired mage reacting in any way.

"Way to lay it on him in a calmly manner." Loke sarcastically whispered at Aries as he would've thought that she'd break it to him much more gently.

"I'm so sorry, but I couldn't do it under his gaze. I was so nervous as soon as I looked at him that I couldn't calm myself down to say it in a better way." She replied in her usual apologetic matter, but they both faced Gray as he suddenly turned to look out at river as his hands gripped tightly to the railing.

"Thanks for notifying me about this Aries, you can go back to the Spirit World now." Gray said in a restrained voice as she could tell that the ice mage was hurt. She personally wanted to bombard him in wool to make him feel a bit better, since she's heard that it has that affect but she knew her job was done.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, I've been asked to accompany Loke on informing you." She replied although she too felt something prick at her as she noticed his left hand quickly swipe across his face, full knowing that he might have been wiping away his tears.

"If the rest of Lucy's spirits voted on that, then I'll let you stay but if this is a favor asked by Loke then go back." He still hadn't faced them and his words sounded absolute which made Aries turn to Loke for guidance. "No offense to you, but I rather speak with him about this alone."

With a solemn nod from the lion spirit, the pink haired ram spirit bowed her head and apologising once more, left in a shimmering gold light. Now it was just Gray and Loke left in the park as many people began to leave back for their homes and children scampering off to play in a new location. The strawberry blonde still kept his distance as he knew that Gray would be more than willing to slug him if he were in range, yet he had the feeling of guilt wash over him knowing that he was responsible. That, added with the ice mage's unresponsiveness was an eternity of torturing silence for Loke who just wanted some sort of reaction.

"How?" Was all Gray said in a low tone, Loke just barely catching it before he repeated himself. "How do you know this is true?"

"It...It happened when I was asked to find Gajeel and Juvia the other day, she was explaining the situation of the number of people involved to him and the things I've noticed was proof enough that she was telling him the truth." Loke replied as he noticed the ice forming around Gray's grip, literally seeing as the metal underneath start to crack.

"Nothing more than an accident, is that it?" To Loke, Gray had sounded detached though he knew better than that. The spirit's own intuition understood that Gray's emotions were swirling inside of him.

"You had no idea what was going on and finding it out myself was no easy pill to swallow either." The lion spirit believed that if Gray was still willing to talk instead of throw punches, then he's better off talking to him as much as he could. "I couldn't keep something like that to myself and let it continue."

"So everything that I've gone through was a lie?" Gray remembered the past days he spent with some of the others and what happened during that time, only to feel even more anger and pain sweep through him. "What Erza told me wasn't the truth!? Cana had never regained that spark we had all those years ago!? Mira didn't see me in a different light at all?"

The part about Erza wasn't news to Loke, but hearing what happened with Cana and Mira led him to think how much emotional damage he casted on his best friend. Loke merely nodded in conformation to his claims, although the others he saw at that meeting might've done something else with him that he wasn't aware of and these three simply made the largest impact on him. The ice mage was a bit of a lonely soul in Loke's eyes, as he simply used whatever he taught him without really being invested to the girl he was with and yet he seemed a bit livelier when he was juggling Erza's interest in him along with his like for Lucy.

"I'm afraid it was all thanks to an accident with a potion that caused them to act that way, those feelings are not really their own." The spirit began to feel terrible as he was breaking his friend's heart with the truth that needed to be said, but he jumped a bit when he heard the distinct sound of crushing metal and ice.

"So I was played then, no one felt that way about me and I can just assume that it was the same with Lucy too!" He turned for the first time in a while to face Loke, the strawberry blonde could easily see the look of hurt on his face mixed with an anger he foresaw happening, but the spirit had to stop him from thinking the same way about Lucy.

"That's not it at all Gray, Lucy genuinely likes you! Way before this accident ever happened." Reasoning with Gray was a tall order and he hoped it wouldn't escalate any further than this.

"How could I even know for certain? You are her spirit after all so you could be covering for her as far as I could tell. I trust the people I care about but how could I know if they are under that potion's effect after learning this?!" The ice mage still held his look as his tone was growing even louder and Loke was glad that hardly anyone was around them to see what was happening.

The ice mage was lost in his own sea of anger and bitterness as the thought of regaining a lost happiness was nothing more than a mirage. Somewhere inside him, he felt like all the events were too good to be true and oh how much he wished he listened to that feeling. Then again, hindsight is 20/20. Either way, the ice mage just couldn't stop the confessions from replaying in his head only to have them mentally labeled as lies all the way from Erza to Lucy, but he was brought back when he heard Loke speak up again.

"She may be my master, but you are my best friend and I'm trying to do what I know is right for you" Loke replied as even his ties with Lucy wouldn't be something that would affect the way Gray has his trust in him, however, the ice mage was cautious of allowing someone in again after learning the truth.

"I've stayed on the edge of actually doing anything because I didn't know how she felt, but I gained hope when you told me what happened." Gray was weary of confronting his feelings as he believed them to be all one sided, all the while thinking that she was into Natsu. "Telling me something like this and crushing what hope I had sure is a nice way of thinking what's best for me, Loke."

"I can't necessarily take the blame for you not growing a pair and finding out for yourself!" Loke could never understand why the mage in front of him make the first move? He knew that Lucy's relationship with Natsu wouldn't go anywhere aside from close friends, that much was obvious, so why didn't Gray just take the chance?

"If I took that damn leap and found out that she didn't share my feelings then it would only put a strain on our friendship along with our team dynamic!" Gray always thought ahead of the more cautious things he had to encounter, that's why he always kept his mouth shut and trusted that things could work in his favor with time. "Besides, she kept putting it out there that there couldn't be anything between us so it was only pushing the argument further that I shouldn't ask."

"Gray you're killing me here! And I'm a freaking spirit!" He hoped that Lucy's claims wouldn't drive him off, but he had to admit that she at times made it pretty convincing enough that it would be the truth. "She said all those things because a crazy water mage would scare her out of her wits and she was trying to make peace with her!"

Gray remained silent as he looked back at the times she would outwardly express that there wasn't anything between them and noticed that Juvia was always around her. The ice mage had realized that he hardly paid any attention to what the water mage would say to the blonde, but he had always managed to her those same lines as her reply. Gray merely clicked his tongue in response to what the spirit said although his anger and doubts still were present and Loke knew that Gray had finally seen what was going on.

"Why wimp out now when you've taken a leap of faith before with Cana?" The strawberry blonde had let that slip out on accident, full knowing that it was a touchy subject with and enraged Gray so he had to prepare himself for whatever came next.

"Because I don't want that fucking feeling of emptiness to creep back into me when it won't work out!" Gray growled out as friendships held meaning to him, but they didn't go as deep as connecting with someone on a romantic level like he had with Cana.

"So you had a falling out with one person in the past big deal, I'm sure you'll do okay with Lucy." Arguing about this topic was like trying to climb a mountain with buttered hands, the spirit knew he could get some footing in, but Gray would make him slip up as this subject had a pretty big effect on him.

"I had a chance at finding someone that could change who I was all those years ago Loke! You are one of the very few people who know how much pain I want through as I've lost the people I cared about, how lonely I was and how heartbroken I became when I was left alone again." It was true, Gray was different ever since that incident with Cana and sealing his heart was how he coped with it. "That's why I don't want to take another leap and put all my faith in it. It's also why I didn't let anyone in, why I became so cold and avoided any form of commitment!"

"You may have continued to grow up that way again after what happened with her, but you still managed to melt away that ice a second time." Loke knew that Lucy had truly become a new beacon of hope for the ice mage. The lion spirit had witnessed change in Gray that he hadn't seen in so long thanks to her and he had a good feeling that she was someone that would help mend the troubled soul he called a best friend.

Gray thought back at how Cana had showed him a brighter path sometime after he had joined Fairy Tail and a new joy was settling in ever since that night on the rock, but it hurt just as bad when she called it off. He was understanding and allowed it to happen, but on the inside he wanted to shout at how much he hated the idea. How he wanted her to forget ever coming to that conclusion and saying that they could overcome anything together, instead he chose to remain silent for her sake, allowing his heart to break and mend it with his ice as he soon limited how close someone got to be with him. He chose that path, so who could he blame about his own troubles even if they go beyond what someone may think possible.

"Even with you knowing about what's going on, don't let it stop you from obtaining your happiness Gray. You of all people deserve it." Loke soon added as Gray had yet to say anything beforehand.

"Easy for you to say, but do you understand how much this weighs on me Loke? How much I learned about myself just because of this "accident"?" Gray questioned with hurt and confusion evident in his voice, the like of which Loke has only heard once when it was the anniversary of his master's death.

"No...I don't have a clue." As far as the spirit knew when it came to Gray was that he, at most, would have trouble dealing with these emotions. He hadn't dealt with them before that they were practically new to him. Although now it didn't seem to be the case anymore.

"Exactly, you don't know how hard it is to learn that you've been in love with your childhood friend without even knowing it, discovering that you still had feelings towards someone who broke your heart so many years ago or how none of it matters since it's all one-sided anyways." For once in all the conversations he's had with Gray, Loke was speechless as the ice mage's new found emotions were only building up problems the spirit hadn't paid attention to while helping Lucy and her team.

Gray was never one to have difficulty with things he came across, be it a tough opponent or the odds stacked against him and that much was Loke certain of, but this was different. In truth, Loke held his friendships to heart like any Fairy Tail mage would, but a situation like this was something he never imagined nor has ever been in before. For all the flirting he does with random girls and Lucy, only one truly captured his heart and he embarrassingly hid behind her earlier so he couldn't really judge Gray for not knowing what to do. The strawberry blonde was only digging deeper into Gray's confusion and despair without really helping him try to overcome it, but he was about to change that before it got any worse.

"Damn, I had no idea what you were going through." If only he had known, then Loke would've decided to find a different way of telling him this instead of so suddenly.

"No you didn't, no one did..." The tension was still very thick in the air and it was slowly suffocating Loke who was trying to find a way to change the situation so Gray could learn how to change the mistake.

"This whole thing is pretty messed up as it is, but you've got to trust me when I say that there's a way to change this." Loke hoped that the ice mage would listen to him on this as his plan was the only way to break them free of the spell they're under.

"Even if you managed to reverse the effects and turn them back to normal, where would that leave me?!" Gray questioned as it dawned on Loke that even if they managed to stop the potion, the raven haired mage was still left with his newly discovered feelings.

"I...I hadn't thought of that." He blindly offered his knowledge of putting everything back to normal that for a split second he forgot about the plight his friend was going through. "But you've got to trust me when I say that even though you've learned all this, Lucy's feelings are only stronger thanks to the potion."

"And that helps my situation how?"

"For the love of the stars above! Do I have to spell it out for you!?" Loke let his personal frustration of how everything turned out slip and hadn't held back his displeasure of the whole thing when he replied to him. "What I meant to say was that Lucy cares a lot about you and that this potion only built up her drive to be with you more than ever."

Gray pondered over what he had just said and through his anger and the lingering feeling of sadness, a part of him felt that if Loke was right then there was hope. Although amongst all that he had discovered, would it really be worth being with Lucy if he still had these other feelings lingering about? She deserved someone who was willing to give it their all to be with her and think only of her, but he just couldn't think of himself being in that position in fear that he would still think of what could've been if he went with Erza or tried again with Cana.

"Even so, it makes it all the more complicated as now I'd become the unloyal one." Gray just couldn't do that to someone like Lucy, he knew being with her was a long shot and there's probably plenty of people who would agree, but he thought it was possible so it was good enough for him. Now though, he just couldn't get the other two out of his mind as much as he tried.

"What are you talking about Gray? I understand how you must be feeling about this whole dilemma, but you just can't beat yourself down about it." Loke had never heard such defeated talk from the cocky ice mage before, so this become troubling to him as things were starting to fall apart fast.

"Then explain to me how could I be with her if I'm thinking about someone else, huh!? How could I devote myself to only her if I have feelings for another person!?" Gray raged at him as this was the true problem he faced, not knowing how he'd be if he did get together with Lucy with his emotions all over the place. "If you know how to change everything to the way it was then do it, you don't need my permission!" Gray's frustration was getting to him and his temper was something he had yet mastered, but had managed to take control of over the years.

The two stood facing each other, Gray adorning a scowl as he no longer saw a point in talking with Loke any further. As for the mentioned spirit, he was troubled at how much Gray no longer wanted to be apart of what was going on. He could tell just by the way he replied to him that this matter was something he didn't want any part and feared what may loom in the ice mage's future. With an irritated sigh Gray turned his back to Loke and decided that he's had enough, but the Zodiac leader didn't want him to leave just yet.

"Gray where are you going!? Gray!?" Loke called out to him as he continued to walk away from him until the ice mage stopped in his tracks to give him a side glance.

"I'm tired Loke, do what you need to do and leave me alone." Was all he said before he continued off, leaving the spirit completely drained of the events that took place.

"Just promise me you'll act like your usual self!" Loke yelled out as the ice mage's possible differing moods would make for suspicious ideas about what they talked about. "Please..." He whispered the last bit to himself as he hoped to Mavis he'd do at least that.

The leader of the Zodiac keys stood in his spot for a few more minutes, reflecting on what had happened next to the destroyed railing Gray had been leaning against. He knew that the news would be a little much for him, but he hadn't expected all the other problems to build up on top of it which only made matters worse. Even if he knew the ice mage for so long, Loke had yet to learn how to read his character as it was so difficult to decipher just what exactly he's thinking about if he wasn't yelling it into your face already. He only wished to help clear this matter up so that it doesn't spiral out of control, but the spirit had the greatest notion that it was far from that point by now.

Loke would find another time to speak with Gray about this matter in more detail, but he had to be careful else the ice mage may explode in anger again. For now he had to find a way to administer the anti-potion elixir, he didn't get a chance to tell Gray about, to everyone so the spell would break, but he needed to be extremely careful. There was only this bottle as an antidote left in existence, that's why he was determined for this to work because he knew Gray wouldn't appreciate the second option at all. The strawberry blonde sighed as he had only imagined good things coming out of this situation for Gray, however, he would've never imagined all the bad that was springing up because of it.

Straightening out his clothing once more, Loke shimmered in a golden light one last time before he disappeared back into the Celestial Spirit World, but he had made a critical error. As he and Aries spoke to Gray to the point of which the ice mage had left him there, Loke hadn't realized the white furred and blue eyed cat nestled a top a tree branch not far from them. If he had taken into account the presence of the white cat he would've realized it not as some ordinary cat, but a certain demon's little sister as the guild mark stamped on it's body gave it away.

Lisanna was tasked to follow them by her older sister to find out what exactly was going between the two and so she followed them, but in order to do so she chose something inconspicuous. Either way, the discovery she made was beyond what she had ever expected to hear and paid close attention to the details that were being said. She had discovered a number of things about Gray and how he feels, but what she deemed very important was the fact that Loke had something that would cancel all the feelings everyone has for Gray. The young Strauss knew she had to report back to her sister, but she felt sympathy for the ice mage she was having a budding friendship with.

She wanted to help the ice mage out, but it seemed that it was neither the time nor place for her to interfere so she headed back for the guild. She had to report back to her sister and let her know what was going on, yet there was still a part of her that wanted to go after the ice mage and at least try to make him feel better. There was only so much she could do to help, but then again helping others to the best of her abilities was a trait Mira always said she'd have no matter the situation. Lisanna only hoped that in the end, things would work out for the better on Gray's behalf.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

It had been five days since Gray's been informed of what was actually happening at the guild and amongst his friends, with hardly anyone catching more than a glimpse of him before he was off. The ice mage would simply drop in every morning for breakfast before most of the guild would show up and place his order only to Kinana, who had the slightest feeling that something had happened to the ice mage recently. The purple haired waitress merely let it be and brought his order to him without another word and before anyone would notice, he'd vanish from his seat leaving behind an empty plate and the amount due for it. No one really knew where he'd disappear to for the rest of the day as they'd only seen him hang around the guild for the most part unless he was going off on a mission.

The feeling of anxiety crept on the fighting groups as none of their members had a clue to the ice mage's whereabouts. Team E.L.L.N. had their own hypothesis that he went back home, all of which were willing to take that advantage and see him; however, Erza had remembered that it was an unfair one and that the demon barmaid will find out about it. As an agreeing front, the team decided not to go since they were the only ones with information of where his home was located, but that didn't stop Natsu in the slightest. The dragon slayer opted out to track him down with his scent and on the second day of not seeing him, Natsu went on the search with Lucy at his side.

That search didn't go as planned...

The pink and blonde duo were following the scent in the direction it was leading to, but the effort was for not as Natsu had lost it amongst the commercial district with its multitude of street vendors, shops and bakeries with sweet smelling aromas. The pink haired slayer tended to grow even hungry the further they went to the point in which he couldn't take it any longer and began looking for a place with the best food, causing Lucy to face palm as her best friend went off to eat. The busty blonde deduced that Gray had intentionally walked through here in order to mask his scent from the prying noses of the slayers in order to avoid them.

Lucy had to give him credit for thinking a way out of being followed and suspected that the other slayers would get a similar response. The ice mage was a crafty one, but just knowing this fact and how he was trying to elude his guild mates from following him made Lucy worry a bit that Gray was trying to avoid them. For what reason, she didn't know and it would only further bother her in the days to come with no sight of Gray.

Lucy had later overheard how the others slayers faired and found that she was right in her assumption that they would also fail; Wendy lost it near the similar area she and Natsu had been to, while Gajeel had gone further than them yet he too lost it when he came across an outdoors perfume and cologne vendor. Needless to say, the mixture of all those scents confused him to where Gray's was located and it only gave him a headache as he tried harder to separate them to find the ice mage's. All in all, none of the bickering groups caught any sight of Gray with the sole exception of one individual who became flustered as they bombarded her with questions.

Lisanna had arrived that same early morning to give Gray back his coat as the remnants of the alcoholic stench had finally cleaned away. She had replied that the ice mage seemed to be fine like he normally was, but she could tell something was bothering him when she looked him in the eyes although she didn't get the chance to ask as he had finished his breakfast and said his goodbye. After the animal soul mage's response everyone had the same idea, that being that they would come in early as well to grab Gray before he left without another word or hair in sight, but that plan didn't go their way.

The multiple teams had come in early on the fourth day to catch him off guard and sat amongst each others' team mates in wait and that's all they did. They waited for him to show up and hours had passed with no sign of him, before they all knew it the afternoon had already began. The teams gave up after the realization of the time and figured that since he didn't turn up in the morning, there was a much less chance that he'd do so in the afternoon. Everyone was becoming restless as the ice mage hadn't been seen by any one of them save for early birds, Kinana and Lisanna which they found to be fifth day had rolled around and the same thing happened again with nothing worthy to note.

Now in the current time of the same day with night falling about an hour ago, Lucy was now sitting on her bed trying her hardest to think of a reason as to why Gray was avoiding them. She was puzzled when this came up all of a sudden and wanted an answer to give her a piece of mind in what was going on with the ice mage. The more she thought about it the more she came across the same point in time where they had last seen Gray leaving with Loke before he began avoiding them. It was a start, so she took it and prepared to summon the flirty spirit that could give her an answer as to what was going on.

"Open gate of the Lion: Leo!" Lucy called as she swung her golden key, waiting for the shimmering gold light to fade away and reveal her flirtatious spirit, but instead she was met with the sight of her maid dressed spirit Virgo.

"Punishment time Princess?" Came the monotone voice of the pink haired maid spirit as Lucy gawked in a questioning manner as a different spirit had emerged from the Spirit World.

"Virgo, what are you doing here?" The blonde was positive that she pulled out Loke's key and double checked her hand to make sure. "I'm sure I summoned Loke and I've got his key right here."

"I'm sorry Princess, but Onii-san is very busy at the moment and asked for me to come in his stead." She replied monotonously as Lucy thought about what she had said, coming to the conclusion that he was busy flirting it up with some girls somewhere in Fiore.

"If he's busy flirting then he may as well be useful here, so if you don't mind Virgo, could you please drag Loke's butt here?" The blonde let the lion spirit do his thing as he has been for years now, but she just wants him to at least come when she needs help with something.

"I'm afraid he is not flirting during this time, Onii-san is busy with an important matter and it is drawing much of his attention." Virgo replied as Lucy felt a sudden pang of worry for her friends, hoping it was nothing like the eclipse incident all over again.

"Is there a problem in the Spirit World, do you need any of our help?" Lucy was always ready to lend a hand for her spirits and she can always count on Fairy Tail to have her back on this matter like they did before.

"Do not worry Princess, the situation is nothing very serious that Onii-san can't handle. If you need any assistance, feel free to ask for my support." The pink maid spirit knew very well that she had to do all in her power to stop Lucy from interfering with the countermeasure of the potion, so she had to act as Loke's replacement for the time being in order for the lion spirit to get enough time to complete his work.

"Thanks Virgo, I guess I just needed to talk with Loke about whatever business he had with Gray a few days ago. Something must've happened between them because after that, Gray has been avoiding us and going to the guild for the day." The busty spirit mage knew that her best option would land on speaking with Loke about this matter, but she was positive Virgo can just can be just as helpful.

"I'm sorry Princess, but I do not know all the details of what happened that evening. Your prince and Onii-san had an altercation with one another, which soon lead to an argument between them. What it was about and who won is something I am unsure of, but Onii-san did return with a tired expression on his face." Virgo didn't like lying to her friend, she knew what exactly happened between Loke and Gray, but it was better that Lucy didn't know in order to help her later on.

"Well I guess that helps me a little, but do you know if any of the others heard or saw what happened?" Lucy asked, trying to hide the blush that was beginning to form after hearing Virgo's comment about Gray being her prince.

"No one else was aware of what happened, he only told me bits of it once he returned after I questioned why he looked stressed." Virgo replied as Lucy sighed to herself, now knowing that the only person who would tell her anything was busy and the spirit in front of her isn't fully informed on the details.

"Well thanks for showing up Virgo, you can go back now." Lucy said with a kind smile as her maid spirit bowed to her before disappearing in the same gold shimmer she came from.

 _ **"Something happened, I just know it. For now I guess I'll have to wait for things to play out, but I just hope Gray's fine wherever he is."**_ The blonde thought to herself before going off and getting ready for bed.

* * *

At another part of Magnolia in the Strauss residence, Lisanna sat at the edge of her bed hugging one of her old plushies Natsu had gotten her years ago, collecting her thoughts together of what's been going on these past few days. She knew what was going on with Gray and she reasoned it as him trying to cope with the truth of what's been going on. She had her own questions of why so many people were interested in Gray all of a sudden, including her elder siblings, and Loke's revelation helped put all the pieces in place.

Lisanna was still trying to learn what kind of person Gray is, from past experiences to the current ones that make him who he is today. The young Strauss had already heard Mira tell her about what he's done for her, and is very grateful for setting her older sister straight by the way, but the things she heard Gray say pained her heart. She wanted to learn of his past at some point, yes, but Lisanna felt sorry for her new found friend upon hearing him yell at Loke of the losses he's suffered. Even Mira wasn't aware of the skeleton's in Gray's closest so she made a mental note of not telling her everything when she returned, so when she had to repeat her findings to her older sister, Lisanna took some liberty to make it as vague as possible.

The young white haired girl didn't enjoy lying to her sister, but Loke had a point in trying to turn everyone back to their normal selves. Most people would have done the same and she really wanted to help comfort Gray, but this kind of situation was beyond her and she needed to leave things in Loke's (somewhat) capable hands. So this where she is now, one of the possibly few people unaffected by whatever it is that everyone else has and the only one who knows the truth behind Loke's plan.

 _ **"It lands all on Loke, hopefully he can get Mira-nee and the others back to who they are instead of being Gray obsessed."**_ Lisanna thought to herself as she looked out of her bedroom window and into the night sky, with the moon slowly rising higher in the sky.

* * *

The following day there was no change at all and it was now putting everyone on edge as Gray wasn't around for nearly a week. It was just puzzling how they all had no real idea of where the ice mage could be and even the great sense of smell that the slayers possessed wasn't any help to the search as they continuously lost the trail. Loke took this as his opportunity to talk some sense into Gray and try to get him on board on his plan, since he was a key component for his plan to work. As for the rest of the guild, they had no idea that their missing ice mage was simply walking down the streets of Magnolia with one destination in mind, all the while holding an expressionless face as he mulled over his thoughts.

Gray was a completely lost in what he should even do now since after all the confusing predicaments he was placed into, they only surmounted in nothing gained for his own good. A part of him hated himself for believing the things that were happening around him and yet he couldn't lie that another part of him was actually happy he had those experiences. He never really felt so elated to be close to someone before and it brought about a new feeling that was a major change of pace to how he usually was, but of course all good things come to an end. Sure he was angered that Loke burst his bubble, in laymen's terms, but he couldn't really hold it against him when he was simply looking out for him.

The ice mage couldn't deny that Loke was destroying something he was feeling glad about having, but he understood that it was for the better instead of living a lie and his friends wouldn't be living the same one. Even so, he was still at a loss since his own damn heart wouldn't stop with the senseless amount of odd pain whenever he thought about his time with the others and it was grinding on his nerves. That's why he decided that instead of walking around for hours or hanging around the forest in the outskirt, he'd look for assistance. He systematically created a way so that the others wouldn't follow or find him, but that also caused a setback on him as well.

It meant that he couldn't talk to Michael for some help or guidance into at least calmer waters and he didn't want to bother the Cromwells while they were busy with their cafe, not to mention that Erza and Levy knew the two locations so there was the chance of a run in sooner or later. Although he did have one last person he could go to for guidance that he hadn't introduced to anyone nor shown where he was located at. The man that was like a second father to him; Michael's father, Morgan.

Morgan had been there ever since he was a kid when he stumbled across his shop on his mission to save Ur from her untimely demise. He took that place as Makarov was more of the grandfather he hadn't met and Gildarts was a fun loving uncle he didn't have, although Gray could oddly see him as a father figure towards Natsu for some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on. Sure it was through the influences of the missions he's gone on, the friends he made along the way and being a part of Fairy Tail that shaped him into the person he is now, but it was by Morgan, Michael and the Cromwells that made sure he was a decent human being instead of some cold a-hole people would love to avoid.

They all gave him semblance to what being a part of real family felt like when he lost two of them prior to joining Fairy Tail. Don't get him wrong, Fairy Tail did just as good a job as them, however he felt a bond between them that differed entirely. That's why he was going to Morgan for help as the old man would have some wisdom to him with the years that have passed him by.

Gray lost himself in thought for the rest of his walk, going through the street in his casual manner with his hands in his pockets as he passed the many shops and people in Magnolia. Sure it had been years since he's been through these streets, but a quick refresher course from the last time he came by was all he needed to maneuver through the streets expertly. It wasn't long before he stood before the oak door with its familiar open sign at its middle, a large window pane at its side to give any passerby a somewhat good look-see into the store and it's large sign at the top which read "The Spirit of Books". Sure the sign was a bit corny, but Gray remembered Morgan's explanation that he got the idea for it when he visited Joya and it sounded better in the other language they used their, but it didn't help customers locate his shop since they couldn't read his sign. Waving away the old memories and without another moment to waste, Gray entered the shop and at the same time the man at the register looked up to see who was coming into his shop.

Gray met eyes with the man and a fond smile, the one of which resembled a father seeing his child again, greeted him as the ice mage gave his own smirk in reply. Morgan stood in his usual book keeper's apron with his casual clothing underneath it and Gray could tell that the old man wasn't expecting him to drop by. The older man was nearly in his fifties, the noticeable wrinkles when he smiled and the grey streaks in his raven hair were indications of his age, yet he still was as spry as he was when Gray first met him. A short chuckle came from the widowed father and Gray took his time to come up towards the counter as Morgan crossed his arms.

"You know, youngsters like you don't come in as often as they used to." The older raven haired man said as Gray leaned his back on the side of the counter.

"Really, well that's a shame. Places like this were ones I spent my childhood coming to all the time, they had pretty good reads if you looked hard enough." Gray casually replied as another chuckle emanated from Morgan and the ice mage let a smile creep on his face.

"Well sometimes those kinds of kids grow up and lose their imaginations, also losing the ability to see a story for more than what it is." Morgan replied as he went over to change the sign to close, it was a pretty slow day anyways.

"That sucks, the imagination is a powerful thing and it can create just about anything a person could think of. Me of all people should know, I use it all the time." Gray replied with another smirk and Morgan once again chuckled at his response.

"Of course a great maker mage such as yourself uses that as his most powerful weapon, but not every person is a mage such as yourself. As much as I enjoy our chats, is there anything I can help you with today Gray?" Morgan asked as Gray sighed to himself before getting into a more comfortable position.

"Those fatherly senses must be tingling aren't they, but at least they're still functioning for the most part. Mind if we take this upstairs?" Gray replied as Morgan began leading them towards the staircase leading up to his home.

Morgan's bookstore may look small from the outside, but it was quite spacious on the inside with plenty of room to showcase all the available books he had. A good alley way for the various deliveries he'd receive and re-supplies, doubling as a moderate home space on the second level that was suitable for him and his family. Gray had often visited when they decided to close the shop for the day and was accustomed to how their living arrangements were, but as he stood now it felt a little empty. The main reason was that the elderly man's only son had moved out some time ago and took his belongings with him to wherever he moved to in Magnolia.

"Have a seat Gray, I'll get us some coffee." The greying man went off into the kitchen, while Gray made his way over to the living room and sat on one of the available couches.

Gray looked around the furnished home to see that it hasn't really changed that much since the last time he was there, save for the few new additions in the home. He always noticed the pictures of Michael and Morgan together on many of the walls, but amongst all that there was still the one old picture above a shelf that didn't deter his attention from it. It was a photograph of a much younger Morgan standing happily next to his wife, Lillian, who held a baby Micheal in her arms. Although Micheal grew up to have his father's looks, he did get his mother's hair and eyes which did save his appearance. Of course Gray was simply joking when he thought like that.

"Although you can make good on a social call, I know you've come to me for help right Gray?" Morgan said a he handed the ice mage his drink, while he got comfortable in his own chair.

"Like I said, those senses are still working." Gray joked as he took a sip of his coffee, slightly icing it so it was cool enough for him to drink. "But you're right, something big's come up and I'm at my wits end."

Gray had recounted to Morgan all that has happened to him in terms of his situation and the older raven haired man listened on carefully. He was quite surprised of what kind of situation his pseudo-second son was going through and a part of him felt proud of what was happening. Although in his younger years a familiar response like...

 _"You are but a fool for questioning the workings of the universe! A man's- no all of man's greatest fantasy is that of the unobtainable harem! Surrounded by beautiful women who are fond of you and want you for their own no less, yet you question it!? There is still much you need to learn young one, before you can truly appreciate the value of the divine gift that has been bestowed upon you."_

...would've been what he responded with, but as time went on those kinds of ideals were left behind after he met Lillian. He married such a wonderful woman and there was always that part of him that he found embarrassing as years went on which will always stay with him till the end. For now he'd help Gray with his unique problem.

"Although such a situation is amongst the rarest things to happen to a person, I'll help you as best as I can." Morgan replied as the ice mage finished his recounting of what was happening to him and waited for his reply.

"Any help is appreciated really."

"For starters, you must stop being a coward." Morgan said as Gray nearly choked on his coffee from that remark, caught off guard by his claim.

"Gray Fullbuster is no coward old man!" The ice mage retorted as the older man simply reclined further into his seat with a knowing smile on his face, crossing his arms in a superior fashion.

"Oh really? Avoiding your guild mates and allowing someone else to fix a problem you are stuck in sure sounds like you're running away from it. Only cowards run away when faced with a problem Gray." The ice mage clenched his teeth as Morgan's claim made sense and he hated to be called a coward of all things, next to demeaning nicknames he didn't like.

"What do you suggest I do huh, besides avoid being a coward?"

"Help your Loke friend out to bring your friends back to normal and after that, tighten your bootstraps and directly choose which one of those women is truly your soul mate." Gray simply gave him a confused looked and Morgan sighed to himself as the young man had yet to get the concept of a destined person for him. "What I mean is that amongst all those girls you've come across, only one holds a very dear place in your heart that you couldn't live without them."

"Don't you get it, they are all under the effects of a potion so it's all one sided anyways. What good would it be if I did something like that when they don't reciprocate the same feelings?"

"Yes I'm well aware of that Gray, but what I'm saying is to benefit your own happiness as you now discovered how closely you are connected to the people you know. You've learned the feelings you possess for someone of the opposite sex and now it's up to your own decision to choose which one is truly your life long partner. You are the keeper of your own heart Gray and only you know the person who has the key to open it." The older ravenette said as he took a sip of his coffee, wondering what Gray's reply would be.

"Say I do that, then I can mark it down to at least four people and even then it's still difficult to decide. C'mon old man, cryptic crap is something I don't like trying to solve at all." Gray could withstand it sure enough, but a cryptic message that revolves around this sort of thing reminds him about Terrance and look where it led him.

"It's not something that I can help point you in the direction of, Gray. Take me for instance, I was never really one for following a general direction, but after I met Lillian things started to change." The greying man had a nostalgic feeling in him as he reminisced upon old memories of his time with his wife. "She became someone I wasn't willing to lose, someone I'd climb over Mt. Hakobe travel to Joya and back again just to have in my arms again."

"Woah, didn't think you had that much determination in you old man." Gray wasn't aware that he felt that strongly for his deceased wife, it actually was surprising how serious he was as he explained what he'd do.

"You know how all those children's books and fairy tales go by now, the power of love is the strongest emotion known to man. That alone can help strive a person to do incredible things, even accomplish the impossible if they tried hard enough." That was true in any regard, Morgan was truly willing to do whatever he could to get his Lillian back.

"You really think I could pull off what you're saying?" Gray was confident in his actions, but at times like these where he is unfamiliar with his situation he tends to second guess himself.

"I'm positive that you can, but first you've got to make sure your friends are back to their usual selves before you tackle on the next step." He replied with kind smile as he could tell the message was getting to Gray. "Now quit acting like a coward and face this problem head on like the man I know you grew up to be."

"Thanks old man, I needed someone to set me straight." Gray stood up as Morgan followed after him, giving him a hearty hug before he left; an act he wished he had done those seven years ago when he disappeared from his life, like his dear Lillian.

"Go get 'em and make sure to introduce me to your new girlfriend." Morgan joked as Gray left with a smile on his face, for once having his head clear after so many days of confusion, pain and anger.

Most people would assume that six days worth of such emotions and feelings couldn't be so easily resolved in a nearly two hour chat, but most people weren't Gray. The ice mage has spent years trying to cope with his own guilt, anger and remorse for what he's done in the past which has made him obtain a very useful skill. His skill of adaptation, which is how Gray is capable of facing the thing he was running away from head on. The ice mage knew that a confrontation could end with catastrophic results as he still needed time to get used to the situation he was in, so he prayed to any gods that would listen and Mavis to give him strength in not blowing his top on one of his guild mates unless it was Natsu.

With a brand new mindset, Gray set out to talk with Lucy if she could call on Loke. The lion spirit was the first person he needed to speak with in order to get things back on track, at least he was grateful that he didn't knock him out the first chance he got. He understood that Loke was doing the right thing as he went off to search for the antidote and actually found one, but he could of at least try to tell him in a way so that he wasn't feeling so empty right after. Gray scoffed to himself as he thought back about that and realized that sometimes Loke was just a little too extravagant to be subtle. The ice mage merely let it go and continued to walk towards the guild as his thoughts were only going to worsen his mood the more he dwelled on them instead of looking towards the future. Luckily he was saved from his thoughts when a hand clamped down on his shoulder and the recognizable cologne wafted into his nose.

"Speak of the devil." Gray muttered as he turned to face an exasperated Loke who looked more than glad that he was able to locate the ice mage in this pretty large city, but there was still a few feelings the ravenette was leaving under his watch for the time being.

"I've finally found you, ya icy bastard! Don't you know how hard it's been to look for someone who strips all the time, but there isn't a trail of clothes to follow!?" Loke exclaimed as Gray was surprisingly fully clothed and was met with a smirk in reply.

"Don't say unnecessary things." Gray coolly replied as Loke did a double take before he realized that the mage in front of him was back to who he is. "I was actually on my way to talk to you."

"Look I'm sorry that I didn't tell you in a calmer way, but it was a pretty big issue that needs to be dealt with." The strawberry blonde was truly sorry and was willing to apologize to the ice mage in any way possible to make it up to him.

"That doesn't matter to me right now and I want to leave that behind me, it's bad enough to have remember it alright." Gray said in a stern voice and the lion spirit knew that he was dead serious with what he was saying. "Although I still resent the fact that my emotions had been toyed, I'm going to overlook since I've come to a decision."

"What decision is that?"

"Which one is there dumbass, I'm going to help you get rid of this damn potion." A smile crept on Loke's face as he placed an arm around his friend's shoulder as he started to move again with Gray at his side with a gleeful stride in his step.

"Now that's what I'm talking about! I've got most of the things I was looking into done, all I need you to do is hold out until the right time comes around for me to administer the elixir to everyone and this whole business is over with." Loke remarked happily as he went further into discussion about what the properties of the emotion potion had that made everyone behave in the way they are now. Even so, Gray was still skeptical and worried of what the future holds since he still needed to deal with everyone in their current state of wanting him.

He may have a clearer head, but there was still so much that needed to be done before things could ever be the same again. His mind was already in the right place, being as collected as always, but his heart and emotions were fireworks and flames that were ablaze with confusion and anxiety as to what would happen next. He had the knowledge that someone will add more fuel to that flame and he hoped that he would calm down enough to stop himself and apologize. His heart may be all over the place, but he'd try and maintain control until this was all settled and behind him. Because he was Gray Fullbuster and he was going to see this through the end, you can count on it.


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's Note:** _I hope everyone's enjoying their day today and I'm back again with another chapter for all of you to enjoy. I'm personally excited as this marks one whole year since I've actually posted this first fanfic and it's come a long ways from its beginning. I know I haven't posted anything in a while for this fic, but I had work that needed to be done, plus I wished to show a little more attention to the other fic I've been working on. Let's leave it at that and allow me to thank you all that have followed, favorited, reviewed and read my fic for all your support and I hope you continue to enjoy it and any other works I do in the future. Slightly sappy I know, but I just felt like saying it and without any further adieu...Let's get this chapter rolling! Review and Enjoy everyone!_

* * *

Chapter 23

Gray accompanied by Loke walked right into the guild with their regular attitudes as they tried to play it as normal as possible, although a part of Gray wasn't prepared to actually face everyone again. As far as he knew, his childhood friends are under the potion's influence and had more than enough sense to think that other members of the guild were just like that. The lion spirit on the other hand knew exactly who was under the influence, which was basically everyone in eyesight as he was still unsure of how Gray was feeling about the current situation, especially since he blew up at the park nearly a week ago.

To everyone else though, they were happy to see their target of affection back at the guild as they each grew worried of what happened to him. They played their part of acting like everything was fine with the world and became concerned friends around the ice mage if he ever wondered why no one was worried about his sudden inactivity in the guild. Erza was of course more on edge as she was nearly ready to march over to the raven haired mage and reprimand him for not saying anything to anyone before disappearing completely, however she'd follow that up with kissing him in front of everyone here. She had to make her claim as things began to head south ever since his constant disappearing in the early morning, since each team was making obvious moves of keeping Gray to themselves.

Not only that, but she also had to pay close attention towards Mira and Cana's moves as those two became her biggest rivals in comparison to everyone else. Even so, the requip mage was weary of Juvia, as the water mage had remained inactive for quite a while. It was mainly due to the fact that she still had yet to make any move for Gray. Erza had noticed that Juvia wasn't doing much in the way of battling against them for Gray's affection as the water mage seemed to be lost in her thoughts most of the time and her iron dragon slayer teammate was behaving oddly the same. Gajeel wasn't taking part in the feud for Gray anymore and refused to even look in the ice mage's way for that matter, thus piquing Erza's curiosity of what they could be up to of all things. Although some of the others had also notice and chalked it up to the Phantom Team surrendering and dropping out of the race.

Erza let her thoughts go as Gray and Loke sat down at their team's booth, the ice mage at the farthest edge with the lion spirit sitting in between him and Lucy. The requip mage cursed to herself for not taking the chance to sit on Gray's side, but she'd deal with it and wasn't opposed to Wendy sitting in front him rather than Natsu who sat between them. Everyone looked at Gray expectantly, waiting for him to say something but he merely gave them a confused look as he noticed that all eyes were on him.

"What?" The ice mage had to feign ignorance until Loke's plan went into effect so he tried to act as normal as possible, however his heart still ached as he looked onto the faces of both Erza and Lucy.

"Don't "what" us ice princess, where the hell have you been?" Natsu spoke up as the whole table nodded their heads in unison as they waited for the ravenette's reply.

"Look I had some things to deal with and it's taken up a lot of my time alright, but I'm done with it so you can just drop it." Gray replied a little bitterly as he accidentally let some of his personal emotions slip and regained himself before they caught on to him. "You could say that I've been under a lot of stress and I just want to forget about it."

"Fair enough, if whatever problem you've been trying to resolve has done so, then there is no need to discuss it further." Erza spoke up this time and even if Gray felt pained at the things he's heard about what was going on, he was still grateful that the redhead would give him his privacy. "Just remember that I'm-, I mean, we all are here for you if you need help."

"Thanks Erza, I really appreciate it." Gray replied as he gave her a fleeting smile that disappeared just as it was shown. _"I understand what you were trying to say and I'm grateful for having you in my life to support me in my time of need."_ The beautified Gray said returning from wherever he was kept hidden, as it had been some time since Erza had actually seen him.

"Y-You're welcome Gray." Erza replied as she tried to subdue a blush that was forming on her face, still quite struggling as she had yet to master this ever since the first time Gray spoke to her in that way.

"Hey now, don't forget to thank my beautiful master Lucy for sending me to help your sorry ass. She did notice how downed you looked, so she sent me to check up on you every now and again." Loke knew Gray was trying to get over the news, but he still needed to boost the blonde's chances when this was all over, or else someone other than her will repair Gray's broken heart.

"Well thanks to you too Lucy, the flirty moron has helped plenty." Gray said as he looked over towards Lucy who was trying to get everything situated at how Loke kept trying to make her look good in front of Gray. _"I can always count on you to know when I'm feeling down and I'm sure I can do the same for you."_ Unlike Erza, Lucy was couldn't hide much of her blush and signs of it began to show on her cheeks as she tried to form coherent words before she stumbled on them.

"N-No problem G-Gray." Lucy struggled immensely to avoid embarrassing herself and she could never get why it always happened when the ice mage was around and Loke tried to make her look good in front of him.

The guild was once again lively after six days without the ice mage and personal plans of attack had been put under wraps as everyone went about their daily lives. The booze was served, people cheered and laughed, a certain pink dragon slayer was already busting heads into the ground as he began another guild brawl and Gray simply sat at the booth and watched the people he grew up with remain none the wiser of what was really going on. He couldn't believe that their behavior was so normal to what he thought would be a major disaster if they ever found out what had transpired between him and each one of them, until a thought had dawned on him. If the potion had affected the girls, was it possible Natsu might've ingested the potion too and that's why he tried to forcefully kiss him back in his own house?

As the ice mage continued to delve into his hypothesis, Lucy had taken noticed of how serious Gray was starting to look and it didn't stop there. His face still remained the calm expression it always was, but the blonde could see the changes in his features that she could recognize of him becoming serious and his eyes gave another piece of information away. The celestial mage saw the storm brewing in his eyes as he looked out towards the rest of the guild, the same ones she remembered him having during their time on Galuna Island before Lyon's defeat. They were pained eyes of spiraling emotions, the like of which she could never forget as they were signs of emotions that Gray kept hidden away. Only anger being a prominent emotion he let out compared to happiness which even that looked restrained. Lucy may not be as close to the ice mage as she'd like to be, but she knew when there was something really bothering him and the blonde wasn't alone as she could tell that Erza felt the same way.

The requip mage carefully eyed her childhood friend as his behavior, as normal as he tried to play it out, was returning to a state in which he retreated into the cold expanses of himself. She recalled that this colder Gray was the one no one would know to be different, the one people usually thought of as the regular Gray, but not the one Erza so dearly remembered when they were much younger. She watched as he got up from his seat and went off to join the brawl with a smile on his face, but it felt a little forced to her and wondered what was truly going on.

Erza continued to look at how he fought the other guild members and could tell he was halfheartedly fighting back as he didn't look like the ice mage she knew who enjoyed beating his opponent in a fist fight. Her thoughts were right as she saw Natsu's expression, telling her that he found out as well and couldn't understand why he wasn't into the fight like he usually was.

Not ten minutes after joining the brawl, Gray had walked off and made his way over towards the bar counter and a low growl escaped the requip mage's mouth as she saw the victorious smile that formed on her rival's face. Her gauntlet hand formed into a fist as the white haired barmaid grew closer to the ice mage and her other hand began to tap the table in a menacing fashion with each passing second. Lucy and Wendy looked on with worried expressions as they could tell that the redhead was becoming infuriated as time passed on and Loke was becoming pretty nervous as well. The lion spirit hoped that the opportunity to exact his plan to get everyone out of their Gray obsessed possession would turn up sooner rather than later because things were going to get dangerous in the near future.

* * *

At the bar counter, Gray sat idly around drinking from his mug as even a fight couldn't lift his spirits all the way up and wondered what might happen if he stayed this way for too long. His train of thought was cut short as Mira had come up to him and decided to start a conversation with him and being the person he was, Gray couldn't refuse Mira and let it happen. The barmaid was very satisfied as she got to talk with Gray and would steal glances every then and there towards her redheaded rival, giving off a subtle smirk as she could see the dark aura forming around her. In all honestly, Mira enjoyed pushing Erza's buttons and it was all the more fun the more she got closer to Gray, making sure she wasn't making any obvious moves on him that he'd notice.

Except that Gray was only half paying attention to the conversation he was having with her and the ice mage was lazily swirling the remaining booze around as he began to lose himself in thought when he felt a weight in his pocket shift. He reached in to feel what it was and when he was met with a cylinder like shape, he instantly remembered what it was and began to think back on the moment he first received it.

 _FLASHBACK_

 _Gray and Loke had been making their way back towards Fairy Tail as the ice mage had come around to stop running away from the situation and deal with it head on. With the lion spirit being the man who had a plan to make it happen. Even so, Gray was still weary of how he'd fare with the others knowing that they weren't themselves and he was nothing more than some sort of love target they had all trained their eyes on. He audibly sighed wondering why this happened to him and thought of a multiple types of ways this couldn't possibly be good on anyone, believing that life had a twisted sense of humor when it concerned him._

 _"You know, sighing like that shortens your_ _lifespan." Loke remarked as he brought Gray around and out of his distressed stupor which was really becoming a bothersome thing to the strawberry blonde as he hadn't seen him like that since Cana._

 _"And do you know that if you piss me off any more, Lil' Loke won't be the first one up in the morning anymore." Gray replied with a mixture of annoyance and anger as the spirit wasn't yet in his good graces._

 _"Geez man, just trying to lighten you up a bit. No need to be all hostile." Loke said putting his hands up in a surrendering fashion as the ice mage clicked his tongue at him and continued walking._

 _"Whatever, so could you tell me what you have in mind in stopping this potion?" The ravenette had been curious as he thought back to how the spirit continuously claimed that he had a way of reversing the effects of the potion and make this problem go away._

 _"Feast your eyes on this!" Loke quickly pulled out a small vial from within his coat pocket and handed it to the ice mage to get a closer look. "It took me a while, but I've managed to reverse engineer the original antidote for the potion and make back ups."_

 _"Why'd it take you so long?" Gray asked as he began to shake the vial, watching the contents inside slosh around with a tealish hue slightly glowing inside before fading out._

 _"Well you see, I had to track it down to the town of Munko where Juvia first bought it, but that's when I came across my first problem," Loke said as Gray rose one of his eyebrows in curiosity of what got in Loke's way. "I got word that the old man that made it for her suffered from a heart attack a few days prior to my visit and I came when people were paying their respects at the church there."_

 _"So the creator died when you managed to get a lead, but how'd you still get the antidote?"_

 _"I was getting to that, anyways, I came across a few of his former colleges and asked if they knew anything about reversing the potions he has created and although most of them didn't know anything there was one guy who did." Gray watched as Loke was scratching his chin, no doubt trying to remember the guy's name and knew he forgot when the look of giving up spread across his face before he started talking again. "I don't recall the name, but he said he'd be willing to help and I told him what happened and that's when my second problem came up."_

 _"Let me guess, a suitable one needed time to be created and the quicker way was weaker." Loke had gazed at him as if he were a mind reader, but the ice mage merely put the fact that the spirit had to reverse engineer the antidote, looked liked he was in a hurry and if this is one of them then obviously this wasn't going to be enough._

 _"Yeah, although they are potent if used well enough, for instance that one you're holding would be enough to get at least two people back to normal but we'd need to find a way so that they willingly take it." Gray was a little surprised that such a small amount could do that, but it bothered him that they had to make sure they take it. "Well it does sound great, but like how you guessed it, he synthesized this one on a short time frame and that if he had more time then he could've created an exact antidote that would be very effective."_

 _"Then why didn't you let him work on it until it was perfect?" If that was the case then Loke shouldn't have had that hard of a time crunch to let the man work and create a strong enough antidote to compete against the original potion._

 _"The thing is, I feel like the problems are getting a little dicey with the ones who were affected by the potion and with them being old rivals, things won't be looking so great for the guild hall. Or what would be left of it once it came down to hard combat." Loke replied as Gray noticed him shivering slightly, most likely at the thought of Erza and Mirajane going at it at full strength like they used to do.  
_

 _"I guess I can see where you're coming from, so you just need me to act like my old self until a golden opportunity shows itself, huh?" Gray rhetorically questioned as he shook the small vial again before extending it out towards the lion spirit. "Here's the antidote back."_

 _"Nah, you should hold onto it. You never know when a chance to use it pops up so it's one less person to worry about." Loke replied as he pushed it back towards Gray and the ice mage nodded in understanding, putting it into his pocket. "And don't worry about it breaking in there, I made sure to use a reinforced material to keep the vial from breaking, you know just in case Natsu does something stupid."_

 _"At least you're thinking ahead, but is it really going to work?" Gray asked as he noticed the guild hall being just a few blocks away from them._

 _"Yeah, it'll definitely work since I've tested it already with a ninety-nine percent success rate." Loke said as a smug grin spread across his face for being able to recreate a potion with results like that._

 _"Who'd you test it on? Lucy?"_

 _"No way I'd do that! I used it Gajeel since he was under the potion's control too."_

 _"Oh...wait...WHAT!?" Gray couldn't believe what he had heard, the iron dragon slayer was affected by the potion too and he was after him like Erza and Cana were?_

 _"Don't worry he's cured, for the most part, and he's pretty embarrassed about it from what I've seen." Loke replied as Gray still was a loss for words since he only thought Erza, Cana, Mira, Lucy and a few others were affected. Now he was actually wondering who else might be under the potion's influence as well._

 _"And are you sure this is going to work?" The ravenette was becoming skeptical about it again, however his own shock about the current test subject was still taking precedence in his mind._

 _"I'm positive it will, and if for any reason it doesn't I have a backup. Just have faith in your good ol' wingman!" The lion spirit happily remarked even though Gray felt that there was still some underlying point in the spirit's second plan that he wouldn't like._

 _"Alright Loke, I'll believe in you."_

 _FLASHBACK END_

After that, they basically spoke about other things to pass the time until they reached the main guild hall doors and that led up to this moment where Gray was simply paying half attention to what Mira was talking about and fiddling around with the vial in his pocket. He'd answer her with a head nod or grunt every now again as he sipped away, getting a refill from Kinana when he ran out and allowed Mira to speak with him to her heart's content even if he had no idea about the inner turmoil he was causing to Erza as her finger tapping grew increasingly harder on the table. Still, he remained unaware and his behavior was quickly noted by Mira as she noticed the glazed look in his eye as Gray continued to stare past her at nothing in particular.

"If I'm boring you then it's okay to say so Gray." Mira said as the hurt filled tone of her voice snapped him back to the conversation at hand and he began to slightly panic at the sight of the tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.

"N-No Mira you're not boring me, I'm just a little out of it today." Gray hastily replied as he noticed that Mira began to collect herself again, wiping away the tears she had, while the ravenette couldn't believe he fell for it again. _**"Are a woman's tears really my weakness?"**_

"Well alright, but remember that it's impolite to ignore a lady."Mira reprimanded in a joking manner as the smile on her face were of any indication and Gray gave her a meek grin in reply. "Well I should get back to work, I'll see you around Gray."

Like that, the demon barmaid went off to serve other guild mates leaving Gray all alone once again, but this time nobody had approached him yet, aside from Lisanna that provided him with someone he didn't need to be self aware of. The ice mage was confronted by the youngest Strauss sibling and was brought into a conversation from there, but he wasn't complaining as it brought him some amount of social interaction. He was glad to have someone to talk to and wasn't really bothered that it was just a small chat to see how he was doing before she left once again to some place around the guild.

The ravenette had believed that with what was going on, he was supposed to fend for himself against love struck guildmates although he was just left alone and that didn't sit too well with him. Thinking about it was making him self conscious that all eyes were on him and one thing he didn't like was the spotlight on his person, so he simply tried to play it cool and not draw attention to himself. This endeavor proved much more difficult as he didn't have much in the way of distracting him and he couldn't really do much sitting at the bar counter as the others or even Natsu haven't started another brawl. The last one having ended sometime while he was speaking with Mira. With a tired sigh he lifted himself from the stool he was sitting on and headed straight towards the back door, leading out towards the beachfront as he wanted to clear his mind.

He occasionally glanced behind him to see if anyone was following him, luckily no one was there at all and he made sure to feel out if someone was trying really hard not to be noticed. Once he finally made it out back, he sucked in a breath of fresh air and went out to walk alongside the shoreline where the water receded back into the ocean and the sand was dry, but his thoughts lingered around the sea as he thought back to Ur and how she was now a part of the ever expansive ocean that lay before him. A bit of a large realization to take in the first time around, but Gray had learned to accept it and felt a slight comfort looking out at the shimmering waters.

 _ **"I wonder what Ur would say if she saw me now"**_ Gray solemnly thought to himself as he continued to walk along the shore, not paying mind to the rest of his surroundings as he let the sounds of the ocean waves crashing against each other become a calming melody to him.

A curious thing really as the fun and ruckus of the inside of the guild held a peaceful, quiet and serene backlot at the beach that would leave anyone confused at how calming the back of the guild was. The ice mage was more or less satisfied with walking along the beach, humming a generic tune to himself until he heard another one that sounded vaguely familiar and he followed it towards its source. The further he went the clearer the tune became and it was one he couldn't forget and it wasn't long before he found the source of it as she laid underneath a palm cheer relaxing, a cooler at her side with a beer bottle in her hand. Gray crossed his arms towards the relaxing brunette as she continued to hum her tune, one of which Gray's heard on more than one occasion in the past but not in recent times.

"Your mother's old hymn, If I'm not wrong?" Gray said as the brunette sat up right, looking up at the ice mage as she smiled in response.

"Makes me happy to know that you actually remembered." Cana replied as she dusted off the sand on her clothes as she stepped closer to the ice mage, while Gray made a subtle step back from her advance.

"If you know me, then there are some things I'll never forget." Gray remarked as the air grew stale with silence as that simple sentence held a large amount of meaning behind it and the card mage couldn't really make light of it.

"True enough, but I've been meaning to ask you something..." The brunette began as Gray had a number of alarms go off in his head and he didn't like how this conversation was going. "I was wondering if you've finally come to terms with what I said a few days ago."

"Cana we were both plastered at that time, I'm sure it was just the heat of the moment that got to you that made you say that." The ice mage knew that Cana confessed to him, so he couldn't really put his heart out now that he knows why she did so.

"You're really telling **me** that? I can hold my liquor better than anyone else and the same goes for you too. I know when you're hammered and that afternoon you were nowhere near it Gray Fullbuster, so don't go writing it off as us drunkenly saying things." Cana said as she knew both their limits very well and the amount Gray drank was only enough to get him tipsy while it would've toppled Elfman instantly.

"I wasn't inferring that, I just didn't want you to make the wrong decision." Gray replied as he wanted nothing more than to get this conversation over with and leave it behind him before he ended up getting a case of deja vu. She took a step closer and placed a warm hand upon his chest as his breath hitched in his throat at how close she was becoming and the warning alarms were blaring away in his mind.

"I'm not making the wrong decision, I told you to forget whatever I said all those years ago so we can start fresh." Cana said in a soft tone as Gray's heartbeat became erratic and the brunette could feel it underneath the cloth of his shirt until he gripped her hand with his and moved it away from him.

"I just...I just can't do that Cana. You made it clear to not get romantically involved for the sake of our friendship and you made me swear to uphold it." Old memories flooded back to Gray as he said his part and he only grew irritated knowing that it's the potion's fault for bringing back old feelings of Cana which were buried long ago when they were just young teenagers.

"I don't understand why you won't let go of that swear when I'm the one telling you to forget it." Cana was genuinely confused by the ice mage's actions as she would've thought he'd slowly accept that she wanted to have something with him and not just a mere friendship. "Tell me why you choose to keep it rather than be with me."

"It's just how it is and all I'm doing is keeping our friendship intact." Gray replied even though his bitterness was beginning to pile up and he couldn't accept any of this, especially for the fact that the one who broke his heart in the first place went back on her own words of keeping a platonic relationship with one another. He could feel his personal feelings trying to burst through the ice covering his heart to relinquish the truth to her, but he wanted to keep it under wraps for as long as he could for their sake.

"Don't give me that load of bull Gray. I know there's much more to that than what you're leading on and I want you to come clean." The brunette had her own wonderings about how their relationship ended before it could fully begin, mainly focusing on how the ice mage just accepted it.

"There's nothing much I can tell you Cana, I'm trying to keep my promise that you made me swear on and I want to respect your wishes to the end." The ice mage was really getting backlash for continuing his farce as this was tearing him apart. It was a promise he hated so much, one he wished he never heard in the first place and now he was simply arguing on keeping it. Oh how the irony fills the empty spots in his life that he wished didn't happen, but this is one of those times and it was emotionally painful to say the least.

"Of course there is, it's either you do or you don't want to tell me. You have more to say deep inside you and I want you to open up Gray." Cana jabbed a finger at the ice mage's heart and Gray couldn't deny that there was plenty more he had to say that he was just bottling up. "I've come around to say that I really do care for you and there isn't anyone out there I'd want at my side."

"If that's how you felt then why end our relationship!?" Gray's voice rose up a few decibels louder as he began losing his cool and wanted to speak his mind, the one thing not even Erza was capable of stopping. "Why end it when we had something going for us?"

"It's like how I explained it before, I was worried about our future together if we couldn't pull through a tough patch." Cana replied as she knew old wounds were about to be open once again, but this time she'll bite back if need be. "The real question here is why did you agree to it? Based on how you're acting now, it seems to me that you hated my decision."

"That's a given fact Cana, I did hate it and I still did for the years to come." He replied, tightening his fists as this was going to be one of few conversations where he would truly vent out what his emotions are really like to the one woman who had broken his heart, but could never learn to hate.

"Then give me the truth Gray! What were your true feelings when I told you that I wanted to end it with you?" The brunette was stepping on a landmine, for Gray's emotions were volatile and she knew that better than anybody in the guild.

"You want it, then fine! When you said that all I wanted to do was grab you by the shoulders and scream 'why' to you over and over again. I couldn't understand what you were fearing Cana, when there really wasn't anything to be afraid of." Gray replied, remembering that day all those years ago as he kept a straight face to her all the while his heart was breaking in the inside. "The things that you said made total sense but I knew that whatever life threw at us; be it hardships or arguments, we could overcome them and still live a good life with each other!"

"But then why agree with it in the first place!? If you're this against it now that I ask you to be up front, where were these feelings back then!?" The card mage became only more confused as the ravenette's opinions have differed through the years, but she knew she couldn't fault him for that since her own have changed as well.

"I pushed them away; I made sure that they wouldn't interfere on my decision to follow through with ending our relationship." The ravenette replied solemnly as he turned his gaze away from Cana, favoring to look out at the open sea to keep him together.

"Why!?"

"Why, you ask? It's because I wanted to keep you happy." Gray steeled himself to continue, facing her once again as this was the moment in which he had to be a man and not back down like a coward.

"Keep me happy?" The brunette repeated to herself softly as she hadn't expected for Gray to reply in this way.

"I was in love with you Cana and I didn't want to be selfish anymore; it was something that's caused a lot of pain for me in the past and I didn't want it to happen again. I'd do everything in my power to make sure you were satisfied and if you wanted to end it then I'd suck it up and deal with it. You brought up fair points in everything you were saying and without my personal feelings in the way, I allowed it as it would save our friendship in the later years. If staying as one of your closest friends would make you happ-"

 _SLAP_

The resounding skin on skin contact echoed for a while as Gray was momentarily dazed, the feeling of stinging skin was beginning to form on his right cheek and a hand print would be visible against his pale skin if he were to look at a mirror. The ice mage slowly raised a hand to the spot in which Cana had slapped him and he still remained bewildered at the sudden strike, moving his gaze towards the shorter brunette whose eyes were already shedding tears. A few tear streaks had already marked Cana's face as she looked up the ice mage, hurt filled eyes gleamed with a sense of anger and sadness as her own feelings poured out in her initial strike at Gray's face since she could no longer hold back against all the nonsense he was saying. The brunette tried to wipe away the falling tears, but they kept coming and decided to leave them alone and speak her piece about the mistake she regretted ever making.

"Don't you dare say I was ever **happy** with that choice because there was no way in hell that I was!" Cana exclaimed as her burdened heart finally released the floodgates holding back her emotions and pouring them all out for the ice mage to see. "I could never be if it meant breaking my heart in the process, where I lost more than gain any happiness."

"You seemed so sure of yourself on making the right judgement that I couldn't see where you'd falter and go back on it." Gray had believed that Cana was very assured with her choice, she was that kind of person where they'd take everything into consideration so he couldn't think of her being wrong. "Every point that you put across could make sense to anyone and preserving our friendship was something I felt that you truly wanted to do."

"My points may have been correct, but that doesn't mean I was right Gray!" She shot back wiping away a fresh batch of tears, some of which had already fallen off her face and towards the sand below. "I was afraid to say all those things, I was afraid that any one or a combination of them would come true and didn't want to be left heartbroken in the end. Your strength kept me balanced Gray, you were keeping me afloat and pushing me to try with everything I've got so I could accomplish my goal; that's why I hoped that one shred of you would be against us breaking up. It would've given me some type of bearing so that I knew that you'd still be there for me as that someone I loved."

"Cana..."

"In truth, I couldn't get over it. I may have had crushes and dated a lot of guys, but that was because I was trying to forget the things that happened between us and yet I always compared them to you. They never could hold a candle to you, that's why dating felt so meaningless to me and I did it so often." The tears continued to fall as she spoke her heart out, a part of her wanting to stop while another one wanted to let it happen. "It was meaningless because I wouldn't get to be in love again." She quietly said to herself as she heard Gray outwardly sigh to himself.

"It's not that different from me, but I closed myself off from everyone after you. It's why I'm so much more indifferent to everyone now than how I was as a kid." Gray silently replied as he realized that they both found a way to screw each other over in the end, messing up their own ways of life for the future. The ice mage couldn't find anymore to say as the brunette had left him speechless like she used to do, but this time her tears were the main factor in keeping him quiet.

"That's everything I wanted to say, so if you'll get out of my way I need to freshen up before Mira gets worried." Cana said as her tone still mirror her true feelings, prepared to move forward and shove past Gray if she needed to.

Gray heard her loud and clear, but there was a part of him that didn't want it to end on such a depressing note especially as he watched the first girl he ever fell in love with have tears in her eyes over a mistake he should've been honest about. He couldn't let things end like this again with both parties being hurt and was damned if he couldn't do something to fix this if ever so slightly. With his mind made up, Gray swung around as Cana shoved passed him and took her by the hand, bringing her close into an embrace as this time he'd try to make things right. The card mage was completely caught off guard as he wrapped his arms around her, in what she could only describe as one of the most enjoyable things she misses from the ice mage as more tears began to form in her eyes and drop onto his shirt.

"No fair...it's not fair." Cana wept into his shirt as she encircled her arms around Gray, gripping it into her fists as her heart began to ache. "You were supposed to let me go, act like this didn't even happen and we'd start all over again." It was the way she thought things would play out after the things they said and now she wanted nothing more than to stay in his embrace.

"If I did that, then nothing would get resolved." Gray softly said as he placed his chin atop of the weeping woman, hoping to find the right words to say to her at that moment. "We fucked up Cana, there's nothing we can do to change the past, but right now the thing I want to say is...that I'm sorry." The ice mage grasped at the words he wished to say, finding it difficult to put his emotions into words and yet he tried his best to put them out there.

The card mage held on tighter to Gray as his simple apology went much further than anyone would've realized as she understood what he was apologizing for. Understanding the ice mage was a challenge for most people, but getting to be as close as she did with him, she knew that he was sorry for not standing up to what he knew was right. For not calling it out as nonsense and causing the pain she had also gone through when they broke up. All words tend to fail with Gray as he wasn't an emotional person, but knowing him for who he is brings about his world of meaning as simple words go a long way. More tears sprang from her eyes with every passing second and Gray allowed her as she too was holding so much back for years already, which made him feel worse to the fact a lot of this may have been preventable although hindsight is twenty-twenty.

"You know you've got to be careful how much of your soft side you show Gray. The others might take you for a wimp if they see you like that." Cana joked lowly as she continued to enjoy the embrace of the man she fell in love with, hoping it would last longer but she knew there would be problems if she didn't let go soon.

"Seeing me sincere is actually the toughest thing I've done, so maybe Elfman would call me out as being 'MANLY' or something along like that. Pretty sure the pink haired idiot would make fun of me, but I could care less about that." Gray replied as he pushed back the brunette to look her in the eye, cupping her cheek with his left hand and wiping away a stray tear from her face. "I mean it, I'm sorry for what happened."

"I know." Cana said as she let go of her grip and wiped away any remaining tears as she settled herself down. "I probably should head back in and clean up before Mira worries her head over me." The card mage turned and was heading off, but stopped when Gray called out to her and caught the beer bottle he passed to her.

"For old times sake." Gray said with a grin on his face as he drank his bottle and the card mage complied, drinking it swiftly although she found it to taste a bit bitter than what she thought.

She let it go though and continued on, smiling towards Gray one last time before turning her back to him once again. As soon as she had turned, Gray's grin dropped as he sighed to himself for the nth time that day with his gaze returning back out towards the sea. He passed a hand through his hair, thinking back to everything Loke had said to him and swirled the vial in his pocket around as over half of its contents were now gone.

 _ **"It was in Cana's best interest that she be freed from getting back old feelings, I want her to move on and it has to start now. Hopefully she can come to understand what I did."**_ Gray thought to himself, his gaze not wavering from the see; however, he could have sworn he caught a glimpse of blonde from the corner of his eye before disappearing around the corner of the guild. He couldn't tell if his mind was simply playing tricks on him or not, but he couldn't do much about it as a large hand clasped down onto his shoulder, knowing who it belonged to before he even spoke.

"We need to talk Gray."

 _"Laxus..."_


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's Note** **:** _I've been gone for too long! I'll have more to say at the end so please look into that, but for now let's get into the chapter you've been waiting for!_

* * *

Chapter 24

The day was already becoming problematic as soon as the ice mage came back to the guild after his absence for nearly a week, followed by the emotional moment he shared with Cana and freeing her from the false emotional bindings that hadn't let her move on. Gray's situation didn't improve much as he was now standing his ground, facing the blonde haired dragon slayer as he simply wanted to talk to him, but the ice mage wasn't sure where this would head since he could possibly be under the influence like Cana was. Both mages faced each other for quite some time without a single word passing between them, the rhythm of the waves crashing against the shore being the only sound around them and it began to unnerve Gray as to what Laxus would want from him.

"So, is there something you wanted to tell me?" Gray had to say something as all the silence was getting to him and that was hard to deal with when it came to someone like Laxus, so a part of the ice mage was thinking back at what Happy had said about the lightning mage wanting him to respect his Thunder Legion. He really hoped it's for that reason.

"Shut it Ice Pants, I'm trying to find the right words here." Laxus replied as he closed his eyes, making a few grunts every now and again as he shook his head while Gray stood there with a confused expression.

 _ **"Don't tell me that he's trying to say he has feelings for me!?"**_ The ice mage internally cringed at the thought, as a mental imaged popped in his head of what that would look like if he acted like the others. It wasn't a very pretty picture.

"I've got it." The blonde man had opened his eyes as he stared down at Gray, while he in turn was internally hoping that his assumptions were wrong and beyond the mark. "Listen up Gray, I may not like the idea so much but you better take good care of Evergreen. She is part of my Thunder Legion, so it isn't easy to hand her off and allow her to join another team but I'll deal with it if it'll make her happy."

"...What?" Gray was glad that he was so very wrong, but for the most part he was confused as this became a topic on Evergreen.

"You heard me, I don't know why she jumped ship from Elfman to you when I had already agreed for her to be with him, but I've done it before so I can do it again. You better be a good man to her, or else your ass will get three thousand watts going right through it." Laxus had been one tough cookie to get him to agree on a possible romance between Ever and Elfman, but he agreed to it as he wanted to be closer to his team and his friends, but when she was moving on towards Gray it was even more difficult for him to be on board with the idea and attend the meeting.

"Me and Ever, how'd you come up with that!?" Gray meant no disrespect to the self proclaiming 'Fairy Queen', but he really couldn't see something happening between them at all and it still is a wonder as to how Elfman and her even work out to begin with.

"She told me so herself and even then I'm still unsure if she's making the right choice or this came up because she hurt herself pretty bad on our last mission." Laxus replied crossing his arms as he was wondering if his plan was working correctly like it did with Elfman, but he had his suspicions of the whole idea of her wanting to be with the ice mage.

It hadn't taken long for Gray to put two and two together as she was most likely subjected to the potion's effects and was gaining these feelings for him at a slower rate than the others; however, it didn't mean that Laxus and the rest of his Thunder Legion wasn't affected. Gray thought of how Laxus wasn't saying anything about what could be between them, the ice mage's mind lost at the possibilities of an answer as to why that was with the prominent one being that the lightning mage was selfless and putting his team mate's happiness before his own. Gray would've laughed at the idea if he hadn't taken notice at how much he truly was willing to make sure that the others and the guild were protected and happy. He had to at least try to coerce the truth out of the taller man without getting his ass whooped in the process.

"And how do you feel about me?" Gray tried to make it not sound as suggestive as possible and pose it as an honest question, but he couldn't help but shiver slightly as he said it.

"In all honesty, the same way I do with that flaming idiot you call a rival. I can hardly stand you guys, but you've both proven yourselves worthy to earn my respect." Laxus replied in a casual manner, to which Gray couldn't see him have any form of underlying meaning in his words. "Enough so that I can tolerate you becoming Evergreen's man."

"What about Bickslow and Freed, how do they feel about it?" The ice mage needed more information about them before he could make a conclusion on all them, hoping to get them as allies who weren't affected by Juvia's potion aside from Loke and probably the rest of Lucy's spirits.

"Those two weren't sure what was going on and didn't understand what Ever sees in you either, but they accepted it and are fine with it so long as you treat her with the utmost respect." The blonde dragon slayer was unsure as to where Gray was going with all theses questions, but he noticed how his answers had brought relief to the ice mage. "What's up with you?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow to how Gray seemed to loosen up more compared to how tense he looked earlier.

"If I'm right then you, Bixlow and Freed are still your normal selves and not like the others." Gray replied as Laxus still looked puzzled at what he was saying. "I'm about to tell you something that requires secrecy, you can only tell the other two about it but no one else."

"Alright, I'm all ears." The lightning mage wasn't one for secrecy, but he could tell that whatever Gray was about to say was serious business and he couldn't afford to be out of the loop if it had to do anything with the guild and that meeting he had to sit through.

* * *

As Gray began to tell Laxus the truth of what really was going around the guild and what's happened to their guild mates, another problem was happening that involved a certain busty blonde. No one had noticed her slip through the crowd of people with a hand clasped in the middle of her bosom, almost as if she were clutching her heart, and exit the guild hall in a rush aside from her trusty lion spirit who felt the sudden pain filled emotions of his master and dashed after her in an orange and black blur. He continued to sense the aching pain she was emanating and cursed under his breath as to what must have happened for her to feel this way, the strawberry blonde knowing the possibilities of a chance encounter with Gray being a probable one when she left her team's booth earlier.

He ran through the streets as he searched for her until he realised that it was much simpler to appear before her from the Celestial World and open his gate at her present location. Doing exactly that he returned to his world and instantaneously transferred to Lucy and his mood fell even more as he heard the soft cries that came from the lump hidden underneath the pink blankets on the blonde's bed. The lion spirit cautiously walked over to the crying lump and sat himself down at the edge of the bed and placed a comforting hand upon the area in which he knew to be Lucy's head. Seeing Lucy cry is one of the worst things that Loke can think of and he knew that those tears have proven to boost even Natsu through the hardest of times, so comforting her was his main job at the moment.

"What's wrong Princess?" Loke asked in a kind tone as the lump merely wiggled a bit before the quiet hiccups were heard again, the spirit understanding that it was a sign of her shaking her head. "This shining knight won't be able to help you if you don't tell me."

He was met with more wiggling before he removed his hand off her blanket covered head and sat there in her room waiting for to reply to him, he was patient and was willing to wait for as long as he needed to. Soon enough, a blonde head poked out beneath the covers with a few tear streaks running down her soft cheeks and a small flare of anger ignited within Loke at seeing her hurt face. Lucy still avoided eye contact with him for the most part, but her cries were gone now and in their place were small sniffles here and there. It was only when she felt prepared to speak about why she was like this did she look up at Loke who gave her a kind and friendly smile in return that gave her a bit of a push to tell him what was wrong.

"I-I went to look for Gray after the his brawl because I noticed him not being himself, but I couldn't find him anywhere until someone told me that he went out back to the beach." Lucy started as she sat up, her covers still around her while Loke handed her a few tissues he picked up from her dresser nearby. "When I got there, I saw him talking with Cana and I don't know what came over me but I just stood nearby and listened to what they were saying."

"I see, did they talk behind your back or something like that?" Loke fully knew that Gray doesn't talk about his guildmates behind their backs and Cana would be up front about it, he merely gave some general ideas so that he didn't seem to be in the loop of things. The strawberry blonde had a good feeling as to what they were talking about, but he would keep that to himself since this may interfere with his plan if she knew too much.

"No it was nothing about me, it was actually...well..." Lucy looked to be struggling with her words and Loke couldn't really force her to try as her love interest would no doubt have been in a very suggestive predicament with the brunette that was a little much for Lucy to bear witness to. "They were talking about themselves, their past is what I meant."

"Oh, I guess you stumbled on a bit of Gray's much colder past then." Loke replied as the ice mage's past tends to affect his behavior, depending on the circumstance he's going through and those are nearly life changing for Gray.

"You could say that, but it really was one of the rare times Gray shows raw emotion. I could hear the hurt in his voice as he yelled at Cana, but even with all that was pouring out of him his eyes had told me a different story." At this, Lucy moved her gaze away from the spirit and focused it on her hands as she gripped them together. "They showed that no matter what they had done to each other he would always look after her. Gray may have been hurt, but that wouldn't stop him from caring."

Loke hummed in response as he was left a little speechless at what his master had said, since even he had a similar thought of what Gray's attitude would be when it concerned Cana. The lion spirit was always amazed at how well Lucy could read people with just a small understanding of them, sure she may have been led astray a few times before but that hadn't stopped her from seeing the good in people. That's also why even if he fought Gray for the fact that he was interested in Lucy, Loke knew they would be a good match as she was able to read Gray easily at times where others are still in the dark.

"They do share a past, but why were you crying Lucy?" She spoke about what led to it, but Loke was unsure as the exact cause for her to shed tears.

"To be honest I can't really explain that myself. I just felt so hurt at how close those two were, especially after their hug, that I just couldn't hold back and rushed out of there." Lucy admitted as the memory felt etched into her mind, although a part of her wanted that for herself. "I feel pretty selfish, I'd be lying if I didn't want what Cana has with Gray and the way he is for her."

 ** _"So there's also a negative to the potion!? Well the thing in itself was already one, but the effects of being heartbroken may play a major role if Gray ends up pairing up like that again."_** Loke nervously thought as it was already bad enough that there are a few trouble bound individuals who are of concern, but them being heartbroken kind of puts things in a worse position if they vent out by fighting.

"Don't give in Lucy, the fight's still going so don't back down now." Loke reassuringly said a he stood up and went over towards her kitchen to get some tea going. "Remember that old wounds take time to heal with Gray, but being there for him can speed up the process."

"You always know what to say, don't you?" Lucy asked as her spirit was lifting up again thanks to her celestial spirit. "You better not be trying to hit on me now."

"I've been around for over a hundred years; I've gotten to learn a lot in that time and anyways, I may be flirty as you so often say, but I know where my loyalties lie and a certain someone already has me in their hands." Loke replied in a suave manner as he managed to bring her out of her funk; however, he had to do what is necessary to protect his master. "A refreshing cup will help cheer you up a little more before you need to get cleaned up and head back to guild."

"Sure I'll have one when it's ready, but I'm more interested in who this certain someone is that has Loke in their hands." Lucy said with a mischievous grin as Loke gave a small cough and adjusted his tie.

 _ **"At least her mood is improving, but such interactions with Gray and other people has to be limited if this is one of the results."**_ Loke thought before putting up a smile for Lucy and pushing up his glasses.

"That person is none other than you Beautiful." Loke believed he got away with it, but the smirk he was met with from the busty blonde told him another story as she crossed her arms in an all knowing fashion.

"Don't give me that line Loke, we both know I'm not the one." The strawberry blonde chuckled nervously at her claim as he sweat dropped a little at the fact that it didn't work. "It's Aries, isn't it?"

"N-No..." It was rare to see Loke flustered, a sight long gone since Lucy's first few weeks in Fairy tail and she enjoyed watching her lion spirit's face slightly flushed from her guess.

"Deny it if you want, but I remember what Angel said about compatibility and you two are essentially made for each other." After her battle with the white haired spirit mage, Lucy made it her duty to learn about it and found different ways to utilize her spirits' abilities with their "other half".

"I could never win against you." Loke commented, plopping himself on her couch as she merely giggled at him.

The two made idle chatter to pass the time until the tea was ready and Loke would occasionally fiddle with the special vile he kept in his pocket every now and again waiting patiently to give Lucy a good dose of the antidote. He honestly couldn't believe that the second person to receive it would be her, sure he told Gray that there was a ninety-nine percent success rate, but what he hadn't told him was that one percent of uncertainty since Gajeel still remembered having feelings for the ice mage. In the end they had to deal with a small lingering feeling for the ice mage at most, but in Lucy's case it was alright since she already liked him. Still, he couldn't really speak for the others that were affected and Loke couldn't imagine the awkwardness of it all when they were back to normal, especially when it concerned Natsu.

It wasn't long before the whistling of the kettle told Loke that it was time, he made sure Lucy wasn't focusing on him as he swiftly poured the teal liquid into her tea and mixed it so that it wasn't noticeable. Sure he would have done this in a more respectful manner and ask her to take it for her own good, but that forwardness would only result in her questioning a lot of things and he really didn't want to deal with that at such a crucial time. It was easier to do this and once everyone gets their fair share of the antidote than he would explain what he had done all at once. With everything set in motion, he began to pour himself a cup and acted as normal as he could so that his blonde master wouldn't notice anything suspicious about her tea compared to his. Once he finished and was about to reach out for Lucy's cup to give to her he realized that her cup was missing and was met with the smile of a furry blue cat as he smacked his lips in satisfaction.

"Thanks for the tea Loke." Happy said as he placed the cup back down on the counter and a sinking feeling began to form in the pit of the spirit's stomach since he had no idea what the antidote would do to someone unaffected.

"You're welcome, you plan ruining cat." Loke muttered to himself as there was no doubt that if Happy was here, so was Natsu and he wouldn't be able to try again with the amount of observes in Lucy's home. _**"Hopefully it'll pass right through him with no consequences."**_ Loke thought with high hopes as he also concluded that it may serve as an immunity against the original potion.

"What did you say Loke, I didn't quite catch the last bit." Happy asked he heard Loke mutter something, but couldn't make out what he exactly said.

"It was nothing, I just said you're welcome." Loke replied as he put up a casual smile wondering why the foolish duo was doing at Lucy's house, since he last saw them at the guild trying some contest between themselves.

"Oh okay, how about making one for Lucy? She'll probably like it, it was really good." Happy suggested as the lion spirit flinched a little, a small tick mark forming on his head.

"You don't say? Geez, why didn't I think of that?" Loke watched as the blue cat merely gave him a smile and raised his paw up saying "Aye" before flying off towards Lucy's living room where Natsu was sitting on the couch. The strawberry blonde wanted to bang his head against the counter as his sarcasm was lost on the blue fur ball and believed that both he and Natsu are one in the same.

Deciding to hold off from enacting his plan, Loke prepared two more cups as Natsu would most likely want to drink some as well and the spirit wasn't about to come back to the kitchen to make another one. Stepping into the living room with a tray in his hands, Loke set it down upon Lucy's coffee table and handed her a cup while he let Natsu reach for his own and the lion spirit couldn't help but notice a smug smile on the pink dragon slayer's face. He would've ignored it if it weren't for the small chuckle he let out as he made himself comfortable on the blonde's couch and Loke knew it had to do something with him.

"Wow Lucy, I didn't know you made Loke into your personal butler next to Virgil and that Cappuccino guy." Natsu remarked as even more tick marks appeared on Loke's head at the claim. He was the leader of the Zodiac and wasn't about to be subjected into the class of butler, with no offense towards those who are and his Celestial friends mind you.

"Their names are Virgo and Capricorn, Natsu. Plus Loke was simply making tea for us and made a cup for you too, so play nice." Lucy replied and Loke felt relieved that her voice of reason was the only one to get through Natsu's dense head, right along side Erza that is.

 _ **"And she had a crush on this guy for how long?"**_ Loke thought to himself as Lucy had been attracted to the dragon slayer before and it was a continuous back and forth thing of liking him and having enough of his antics. This is what led the spirit to believe that during the times she had enough of Natsu, Gray's attitude made him shine in comparison and that's what later formed her attraction to the ice mage.

Of course this was all speculation as he didn't exactly know how Lucy thought, but this made the most sense to him out of every other thought he came up with, since he had no real way of proving those. Sure these two were really close and Loke wouldn't have been that against them having a fling with each other, but those times when they were the closest came during the most dire of situations and that placed the lion spirit on edge. The Zodiac leader couldn't deny that his blonde master and the pink haired dragon slayer had, on a number of times, been intertwined with one another; however, the strawberry blonde's years of being around gave him the knowledge that a relationship based around that couldn't work for long as problems would arise. Natsu's personality differed on the situation since he was nothing more than a fun loving guy who enjoyed picking fights with his friends and on the battlefield he was a hardened mage doing everything he could to protect the people he cares about. More so after what had happened to Lisanna before she was brought back from Edolas, but only she was able to get a romantic rise out of the dragon slayer when at the guild even if he didn't notice it.

As always these were Loke's thoughts around the relationship between his master and Natsu and it was simply his own intuition that allowed him to see how Natsu functions with other people. The teen may be dense, but he could learn pretty fast if he puts his mind to it and that's why the slayer was hell bent on making sure the ice mage was at his side exclusively, aside from sharing him with Lucy, Levy and Erza. All in all, the slayer was a special case when it comes to his very being for some reason, but that's what makes him who he is and as the burning flame the guild so proudly follows.

"Come on Luce, can you please tell why you were crying." Natsu begged and the lion spirit brought himself around to piece together the current conversation as he was well in thought beforehand, but he was sure that it had something to do with the fact that the blonde had yet to successfully clean away the tear streaks from her cheeks.

"It really was just for nothing Natsu, there's no real need to get worried over it." She replied although Natsu still looked unconvinced about it and Loke understood that at times Lucy isn't the best liar.

"I don't know, you looked pretty upset earlier and Happy can back me up on that."

"Aye"

"It's alright you two, as Lucy's spirit I can sense when she is distress and have already dealt with the problem. It really was nothing serious, so she'll be ready to head back to the guild in a little bit." The lion spirit intervened, giving his blonde master breathing space and hoped that the pink haired teen would buy it.

"Well if she's feeling better I guess all's that left is for us to wait for her, right little buddy?" Natsu said, looking over towards his blue furred companion as he was met with an agreeing nod and raised paw. "Yo Loke, can I talk to outside real quick?"

The lion spirit was unsure as to what Natsu may have wanted and had a slight notion that he wanted to know why Lucy was actually crying for, so with a simple nod he followed him out of her home. Happy stayed behind on Natsu's say-so, meaning that it would just be the two of them and Loke was preparing a number of false explanations to cover for Lucy. That's what he planned to do, but once they stood in front of her home with everyone going about their daily lives around them, Natsu took on a bit of a bashful look and Loke was caught off guard at the sight in front of him. The dragon slayer was struggling to form words, that much Loke could tell, but his attitude and actions were just puzzling as Natsu never was like this before within the guild or in general. The spirit could tell this was the potion's doing and still was amazed by the crazy power it had to do something like this and he was eternally grateful for the fact that it will only be a bad memory in due time because this type of Natsu is one he didn't want to speak to, unless it was for someone he was actually interested in under his own will.

"So...you needed to speak to me about something?" Being as casual as possible was the best he could do, but a part of him felt like laughing at the confused expressions the slayer was making.

"I give up, I ain't gettin' nowhere this way... Look I need to ask a favor." Natsu finally said as the continuous tries in trying to word his thoughts had failed. "Can you tell me about Gray?"

"About Gray, like what?"

"I don't know man; the things he laughs at, the stuff that makes the Ice Princess happy or his favorite type of ice cream even!" Oddly, Loke could swear that Natsu seemed desperate for this stuff, although the reason as to why he would not know these things, even when they've known each other for years, escaped him. "You're like my last hope to find out because I can't go to the others about it, Erza starts then her face does this weird thing where it turns like a brighter color than her hair and then she stops and Levy hardly knows anything too."

"Since you are a part of Lucy's team I guess I can supply you with what I know." Loke replied in a reluctant tone, obviously not up for the idea and his tone no doubt slipped right under the dragon slayer's radar as he was grinning gleefully after he agreed. "But don't come crying to me if it doesn't work out for you, especially for the fact that you're a guy."

"If that's the case then no problem!" Before Loke knew it, Natsu's body was engulfed in a puff of smoke and when it cleared, the strawberry blonde's jaw was well on it's way to the floor. "Ta-da, this way it works right?"

Natsu stood pridefully as the muscle he once displayed disappeared into toned and smoother skin, his pink locks lengthened by a fair amount nearing the middle of his back and his figure took on more of an hourglass shape. His facial features softened incredibly as Loke stared at a more feminine face that belonged to Natsu, though he could easily recognize it and no amount of shame would dare him to make a comment about the newly acquired bosom the slayer now sported which had the more delicate parts hidden underneath his vest.

If no one had guessed it yet, Natsu transformed himself into a girl.

"What in hell is that!?" A very common response that anyone would say of course, but Loke was having a tough time being shocked when a part of him, due to natural instinct over the course of a hundred years, wanted to make a pass at Natsu.

"This is my transformation magic, Mira taught me how to use it." Natsu replied, still not understanding that he was standing in the open with no shame at all to the fact that he/she left his/her goods out in the open with nothing but a piece of fabric blocking the more private parts. At least some bandages would've been somewhat appropriate in his/her current dress style.

"Alright, but who was the person you copied?" Loke knew that what you see has the possibility of being deceitful, but he wouldn't dare look anywhere lower than Natsu's collar bone, even if for some reason the slayer was well endowed in his transformation.

"Myself as a girl and I named her Nashi, I had Reedus draw me like one because Lucy got pretty mad when I transformed into her for fun. This way I could practice my transformation until I could do it easily."

"Why didn't you just transform into one of the other guys instead!?"

"And have an ugly mug? No thanks, besides Lucy wanted my help with dresses when I transformed into a girl and told me to take it as a form of training to see how long I could keep it up. She said something about it not being counted as a man in drag since it's a girl's body or something like that. Luce has some weird hobbies." Why Loke never knew of this was beyond him as his master legitimately made Natsu into a trap of all things. Basically it was Natsu turned into a girl and made into a dress up doll and he calls it training. Weird.

"L-Look just change back already, one point of advice I'll start giving you is not to do 'that' because I'm sure Gray won't appreciate it." Sure it could be made into an awesome prank at some point, but the situation was a little more serious for that and he really didn't want to be confused to which way he swung.

"Thanks Loke, I knew I could count on you!" Natsu cheered to himself, transforming back to his old self in the process as the suited spirit merely waved dismissively before the slayer stopped and took on a pensive look and raised a hand to scratch his chin. "By the way, I've got a question for you."

"It's not like I'm going anywhere, so go for it. _**And I don't have to stare at you as a girl so it's far better too."**_

"Alright, so I don't know why this happens but I got this weird feeling when I saw Lisanna near Gray and them having a good time. Like I didn't want them being so close like that, but it bothered me much more when Gray was with her than the other way around, you know what I mean?" Only one word popped in Loke's mind once he said that, but even he wasn't entirely sure it could apply to Natsu.

"If I'm right, then you've just experienced the green eyed monster."

"But I'm me and my eyes aren't green." Leave it to Natsu not to understand and Loke to facepalm well enough to fill his quota of the slayer's denseness or in Gray's words his idiocy.

"It's an expression Natsu, it meant that you felt jealous for either Gray being with Lisanna or the other way around. Whichever one it is relies solely on how you interpret it." Loke explained as the look of understanding flashed on the pink haired teen's face. _**"Although being jealous of a girl really isn't a manly thing, or could it mean..."**_

"I get it now, I don't want Gray being close to Lisanna. Alright Loke, start telling me what you know! I'm sure we've got plenty of time before Luce comes out."

"Right, right I'll tell you what I know. _**Course I won't say a few major ones to you, those are reserved for Lucy when the time comes."**_

* * *

"You two won't believe what I've got to tell you." Laxus said as he sat himself down with the two men in his Thunder Legion since Evergreen was off somewhere earlier that morning.

"What news have you got for us?" Bickslow said as his babies circled around his head before juggling them around for his own entertainment.

"It turns out everyone's not in their right mind and I mean everyone, starting with the ones that went to the meeting we had to go through." Laxus replied although he didn't receive the interested expressions from either of them that he had expected.

"That they are all under a potion's effect..." Bickslow continued as he looked over towards Laxus, the blonde puzzled as to how he had knew what he was going to continue saying.

"...And that Gray and Loke are trying to find a way to administer the antidote to everyone? Loke informed us of the situation some time ago." Freed concluded as he put his tea cup down, Laxus looking peeved at the fact that he was the last one to know of this.

"You guys didn't bother telling me this why?" The muscular blonde crossed his arms as he took his official seat at their table and the two men looked at each other nervously before Freed answered him.

"Well we were unsure if whether or not you were affected as well and wished to see for ourselves what your actions would be. On the plus side, Bickslow owes me a hundred Jewel since I was confident that you were still in your right mind."

"Glad to see one of you being confident on how stable I've been throughout all this." Laxus said as he shot a glare towards the knight dressed man as he retreated into his seat, his babies quickly hiding within his arms in fear as well. "So why'd he tell you?"

"He realized that we weren't under the influence and came to us for help as part of his back up plan." Freed continued as their blonde leader raised an interested eyebrow at the words of back up plan.

"And that would be?" As the lightning mage asked, Freed leaned in closer and whispered it to the larger man.

"If things don't work, they'll try to get everyone on Galuna Island where I must create a rune barrier in the basement of the Moon Temple there, to which he'd have some help casting a powerful spell that would help cleanse everyone of the potion. I'll just be keeping them secured in one location so that the job is completed in one shot." The green haired man was unsure what exact spell he'd cast, but Freed was positive that he could find out with a little more research at the guild's library.

"At least you have an active role in this, as for me I need to talk to a certain waitress so that the main plan can get underway." Bickslow said as he sat up from his seat, but turned before he made it to the stairs to look at Laxus. "You wouldn't mind dressing as butler and serving drinks would you? No right, that's what I thought so too."

In that instance Laxus hated whatever it was he was roped into, but if it meant that he was helping the guild out in a good way he'd just suck it up for the meantime although being a butler was something that was bordering on his temper. He would've outright refused and sent a good ass burning lightning strike on Bickslow if Freed hadn't told him that Gray, Loke and himself were also going to be dressed up in that attire as well. How demeaning it was that an S-class mage like himself was being reduced into becoming a butler for the greater good of the guild, someone out in the universe was enjoying themselves a little too much when it came down to his fate.

"If Loke wasn't contracted to the cheerleader, I would've fried his ass for this." Laxus said as his right hand man had explained that this was all Loke's idea from the start.

In the Celestial World, Loke sneezed before getting himself comfortable again on his favorite couch after telling and explaining everything Natsu wanted to know and was actually trying to forget the image of Nashi. Which was starting to burn itself into his mind and Loke was already willing to pay Aries a little visit to help him relieve him of the unbelievable image he had experienced that day.

 _ **"The things I have to go through for you Gray..."**_

* * *

 **Author's Note** **:** _Hey everyone I'm back and I do apologize for my absence, but I had a lot to get through nearing the end of the semester and once my finals for my courses ended I immediately got back on board to write this chapter. This chappie was on the back burner for a while now and I've finally come to finish it, but I feel like it's lacking compared to what I had originally planned. So if you're reading this then I'm happy you finished it and drop a review if you'd like, those make me feel special every time I read them. Hoped you enjoyed it and I'll try to update at least frequently now that it's summer, p.s. I have a bit of a project I've been working on, but like this chapter it'll sit on the back burner for a while and get worked on when I have the chance yet I feel some of you will enjoy it._

 _See you in the next chapter everyone and enjoy your day, evening and night!_


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N:** _I'd like to apologize for my inactivity, but I seriously had the worst case of writer's block and struggled to get this chapter done the way I wanted it to go. Still I hope you all enjoy the next chapter since I can already see the end drawing near._

* * *

Chapter 25

To say Mira was on board with the idea of serving her delicious punch and have the guys, especially Gray, dressed up as butlers to serve to everyone was an understatement. Bickslow had to find a way to sweeten the deal since the barmaid easily refused him for the fact that he was on an opposing team, but when the target of her affection was brought into the equation he got the ball rolling. Although he did find it amusing seeing a skip in her step as she went off to take inventory of the necessary ingredients for her punch, luckily he didn't have to be a part in the war zone that was the guild for one ice mage anymore so he was satisfied with himself. This meant that the quiver of magical power he felt had been from Laxus once he discovered that he had to dress up as a butler.

Mira was more of the focus of a few guild members, mostly the ones from the opposing teams she was fighting against, as she gleefully went about her usual business and they all knew that something was up. She knew something that they didn't and no matter how much they all thought about it, nothing seemed to come to mind that is until Lisanna decided to ask Bickslow for he was the one taking to her before she started mimicking a high school girl in love. Needless to say that very interesting information was leaked across the entire guild like wildfire and it was just how Loke predicted for it to go down. The knight dressed man couldn't believe that once even a little bit of news was spread that the majority would be so looking forward to the sight of Gray dressed up, for whatever amount of time that was, until he stripped his clothes that is.

As for the ice mage, he was sure that everyone was eyeing him for some reason when he finally walked back inside and it was starting to really annoy him that they wouldn't say anything to him and just sit there. Though the whole sitting alone and being stared at didn't last long as Cana bravely sat beside him, more like reclined into his left side, so he wasn't as alone compared to earlier yet that didn't mean a certain red head wouldn't do something about it. Erza had then plopped herself down on his right and somewhere inside Gray, he prayed he'd make it out of the situation in one piece. Not to mention it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that sparks of challenge was passing between the two every time they did their poor attempt at hiding the glare directed to the other female.

Compared to the few times Gray had sat in the middle of both his childhood friends, not once had he ever feared for his well being as he was now. Sure there came the constant watch for avoiding Erza's heavy fist when she was going to "discipline" him, but he understood that she held back her strength and made it a warning to him to behave. This time though, if both Cana and Erza got into a tug-of-war match with him as the rope, he'd definitely lose his arms and he needed those for the rest of his life. Cana's strength may not be as comparable to Erza's overall, but she does rank as one of the strongest females in the guild right below Mirajane since she could hold herself in a fist fight pretty well. That means if she was going all the way, then the card mage could give the Erza a run for her money before the redhead had to get serious.

"So...is there something I can help you with?" Gray was walking on blades and one slip would most likely skewer him in between dozens of them when it concerned Erza.

"Can't a girl use an old friend as a recliner every now and again?" Cana replied and to Gray she became as fragile as a house of cards, sturdy but could easily sway and fall apart. That would leave him to pick up the pieces and he so happened to finally get them stacked up again after what happened down by the beach.

"There is a limit to how much you can use Gray for your own leisure Cana, I on the other hand simply came to sit next to my team mate. This is what is natural for two people working together to do on and off of missions." Erza spoke as another poorly hidden glare was sent Cana's way and she responded in turn with her own.

"Please, at least I have fun with Gray when we hang out together. You're looking at Magnolia's best drinking partners this side of Fiore, where he's lucky enough to avoid getting beaten up throughout the night, mostly." Cana bit back as she, and many members of the guild, knew that Erza can't take her alcohol very well and she becomes somewhat of a rampaging bear when drunk.

"Come on Cana we know that..." Gray couldn't finish as he was soon drowned out by Erza's retort.

"Fun doesn't solely constitute drinking together, there are many different ways of having fun and we too have our own way of doing so." Needless to say, Gray was actually surprised that someone other than Mira could rile Erza up like this.

"Sure you do Red, Gray simply adores sitting on his butt at some boutique and watching you change into a hundred dresses before picking out five from the wardrobe you went through." To those who looked on at this, they all knew Erza's habit of doing that and only a select few have gone with her shopping like that; they were mainly female and Gray was surprisingly the exception.

"Sure it's tiresome, but it's not all ba-..." Drowned out again was Gray and by Erza once again.

"He's very useful as sometimes a woman needs an honest man's opinion, where as he is the honest man that helps deliver you home after drinking yourself unconscious. Honestly, there hasn't been a time when I haven't given Gray a towel or napkins to dry his shoulder off from your drunken slober." Erza was getting into this as her physical fights were mainly with Mira and now her verbal ones were against Cana, yet knowing the redhead it is safe to assume she won't back down until she is victorious.

"At least I know how much I value him, instead of using him for a punching bag every time he messes up with Natsu!" At this point many of the members who were paying attention had decided to avert it as things were about to spiral and it's better not to know anything than something.

"It's called tough love Cana and I assure you I don't enjoy punishing him as much as you think I do." Erza retorted with much fervor, crossing her arms in the manner that she'd be victorious no matter the outcome. "This is more of a force of habit either way, since I've been doing this for years dating back to our childhood."

"Some habit you've got there, I'm sure you would've categorized it as bad as Gray's stripping." Somehow Cana managed to encroach upon the ice mage even more as she was nearly to the point of sitting on his lap. "You really need to get off that high horse of yours."

"No need to blow a simple question out of proportion..." Gray commented although it didn't stop the two from butting heads as Erza glared her down for her last comment.

"High horse you say!? I simply regard every matter in a just way so there's fairness in everything and help out our guildmates with needed advice."

"Yeah sure, by the way you left your erotica back in my room. Just letting you know." A smug smile spread across Cana's face as Erza recoiled and a light dust of pink covered her cheeks at the revelation and Gray couldn't deny that she looked cute in that moment.

"I-It's nothing indecent Gray, I merely read them for the engaging storylines that they have." Erza defended as the smug smile on Cana's face turned into a smirk at how she witnessed the Titania crumble. "In any case, I have the decency of not using my own body as a means to acquire what I want."

"You calling me out Scarlet, I may not be like Mira but I still got enough in me to take you on!" Cana retorted as a deadly aura began to form around Gray as both his sides had two terrifying presence.

"I don't engage in petty fights anymore, but for you I'll make an exception." Erza glowered back and the ice mage knew that if he didn't resolve the situation soon there would be hell to pay, but even he lost his patience at seeing two of his best friends fighting like that. Then it hit him on how Erza must feel every time he got into a fight with Natsu.

"Alright that's enough you two!" Gray reprimanded, although he didn't react fast enough at the sight of both Cana and Erza reeling back their fists.

"Don't get in the way!" The drinker and the redhead said in unison as they unison punched Gray square in the face, knocking him over the booth.

Both women immediately snapped from their argument driven haze and realized what they had just done and quickly went to check on him. They gasped as the crumpled mess on the floor slowly let his leg fall off from the top of the seat and watched as Gray circled his head in a daze before he completely lost all consciousness.

* * *

The ice mage could feel a light slapping against his right cheek and lazily tried to flick whatever was doing it away as it was disturbing his slumber before the thing clutched his hand tightly. Gray quickly reacted and was about to attack until he realized that it was merely Loke standing next to his infirmary bed, yet he really wasn't sure when he got there in the first place. He pieced together the fragments of his memory and remembered getting punched by not only Erza, but Cana as well before everything went dark. The snapping of fingers had redirected his attention to the impatient looking strawberry blonde as he crossed his arms in wait, before an amused grin formed on his face.

"I've always waited for the day when a pretty woman would slap that good looking mug of yours, but instead you were sucker punched by two Amazons for getting in between them." Loke was trying to keep in his laughter for Gray's sake, but the situation was much too funny to hold back.

"Not so funny when you're on the receiving end of nearly three hundred pounds of force, anyways how did I get here?" Gray questioned as he shoved off the bed and went in search of something reflective to see what damage was done.

"Well after the girls took their pent up anger out on you, little Wendy came around and healed your big owies before they could bruise really bad and they got Elfman to carry your sorry ass up here." Loke explained as Gray continued to look over the exact areas in which Cana and Erza had punched him, noticing that Wendy had done a great job of healing him.

"Well I guess one crisis was averted before something really bad went down," Gray said while making his way towards the door until Loke placed a strong hand upon his shoulder, "What?"

"I don't know if you've realized it, but it's time to get the plan into motion." Loke said, holding his hand out as shimmering gold light surrounded it before dissipating leaving behind a clean butler outfit in his hand. "Like my suits, this is an Aries original specifically tailored just for you and comes with a small binding spell so you won't accidentally strip anything off."

"You really thought ahead, didn't you Loke?" Gray rhetorically asked before sighing and grabbing the suit, pushing the smiling spirit out the door so he could get changed.

Not long later, Gray emerged from the infirmary room with his hands still struggling to get the tie perfectly finished until Loke had enough of the pitiful sight and decided to help him with it. The ice mage wasn't so against having to dress this way since he's done waiter jobs before, but unlike those times he was fully dressed instead of just wearing a bowtie and his boxers. Although he couldn't really complain about the outfit since it was soft to the touch and he knew that Aries' wool was unlike any a person could ever feel in their lifetime, so he was aware that he had to thank her for her help in supplying him with it. Now back to the matter at hand, Loke gave an approving smile with a thumb's up before leading him downstairs where everyone was seated in wait.

"Alright this is the moment of destiny, this is where we save everyone and bring them back to their senses." Loke whispered to Gray as they walked towards the kitchen, while every fiber in Gray's feeling could sense that all eyes were on him.

"Why so dramatic? All we're doing is pouring the antidote into everyone's glass and let it do its thing." The ice mage replied in a seemingly bored tone although on the inside he was feeling slightly flustered with most of the guild looking at him.

"Have you no sense of romance? Given the circumstance, no you don't." Loke said as Gray threw him a sour look. "The situation places you on giving up these supposed feelings for some of the girls here in the guild to save them from a false love."

"Well yeah, but..."

"Look Gray, this all happened because of that potion and maybe there were a few flags raised because of it, but there's the possibility that they have their own significant other destined for them." Loke replied and Gray had to agree with what he was saying, for once seeing his old wingman as the spirit that's lived for over a hundred years. "I know it'll be tough on someone like you and I understand, but you and I both know this is for the best."

"Man I hate it when you're right." Gray said in a joking manner and Loke was glad that maybe all this won't burden Gray as much as he thought it would.

"I can't help it, I'm just that good," the spirit joked back as he opened the door to the kitchen, "moment of truth, this'll be where our lives will go back to normal."

As Gray entered, he was treated to the sight of Laxus and Freed pouring the vials all into the each assorted cup for their guildmates, all well mixed within Mira's punch. That was the obvious thing he noticed, the next thing he realized was that both men were also dressed in butler outfits and a part of him wished he had his camera to take a picture of Laxus for a little blackmail in the future. The ice mage noticed that Bickslow wasn't around, but Loke had mentioned that he was going to be needed elsewhere so Gray just let it slip by.

"Is there really enough of this stuff?" Laxus asked turning to get another vial, while Loke began placing the already filled cups accordingly onto trays to be carried out later.

"I've made exactly the amount that should be required with a limited few to spare, but I'm sure there won't be need for them." The spirit replied to him with Gray soon assissting him on placing the cups onto trays.

"Better be right about this and once this is over I can go back to not caring about other people's love affairs." Laxus said and Gray had the distinct feeling that it was pointed at him of all people, but he didn't let it phase him and followed Loke out with his filled tray.

"I'm sure Loke is fully aware of what he's doing and isn't better to help restore our guild instead of standing on the side lines?" Freed said finishing up his hundredth cup mixed with the antidote, now appreciating the work Mirajane does on a daily basis if it's anything like this.

"Yeah well, this stuff's messing with my senses and the sooner we serve it the faster I can get away from it." Laxus replied as he scrunched his nose from the oddly scented elixir, which has been bothering him ever since he opened the first vial.

"Must be a dragon slayer attribute, but nevertheless it is still comforting to know that once everyone drinks away their punch their love psuedo-love for Gray will vanish." Freed said as he began to place the cups onto multiple trays in the same way Loke did, but he had the weirdest sense that the other kitchen door wasn't that ajar the last time he looked. _**"Must've been Bickslow checking up on us, most likely trying to avoid Laxus of all people."**_

The green haired man left it that and continued to fill the cups, but what he hadn't realized was that the one looking on at them was not his fellow Thunder Legion member when in fact it was a certain pink haired slayer who wanted to make fun of the older blonde. Natsu hadn't caught most of the conversation they had up until Laxus said something about his senses and his jaw slackened at the discovery that they were using this as a cover up to their master plan. He couldn't believe that they were going to use such low blow tactics to get rid of the competition and had to warn the others to not drink anything.

He quickly made his way over to his table spotting all of his teammates speaking to one another as they awaited for Gray to deliver their punch, luckily he noticed the ice mage still a few tables away so it would give him enough time to warn them. As he slightly jogged over to them he couldn't help but wonder if he should warn the other teams about the Thunder Legion's plan about getting rid of their feelings for Gray, no doubt the ice mage was oblivious to all of this and Loke too and yet he struggled to do so. It was obviously the right thing to do in this situation, but there was also the chance that if they drank whatever Laxus put into the cups and lost their interest in Gray, then Team E.L.L.N. had a sure fire victory in having him all to themselves.

He danced around the idea, slowing his pace as it weighed heavily on his team's chance at a complete victory versus the others having their emotions manipulated in such a way. If anyone would see, they'd find a struggling Natsu with steam coming off his head and of course they'd ignore it since the slayer tended to do that from time to time although they wouldn't understand how challenging the ordeal was on him. With an annoyed sigh the pink haired dragon slayer had made up his mind, they were all his comrades before being his love/like rivals (still didn't know where he stood on that) so he did everything in his power to warn a member or two of the rivaling teams that were at the meeting.

 _ **"A fair fight is better than winning through some underhanded scheme."**_ Natsu thought as he quickly made his way towards his table, Gray not so far away now after he spent time warning the others. He just hoped this wouldn't bite him in the ass down the road, he hated when that happened.

With nothing short of six tables between Gray and Team E.L.L.N., Natsu casually sat down and hoped Gray wouldn't be able to hear them when he started to tell them what he had overheard. Luckily Gray had ran out of punch and was going back into the kitchen to get more which allowed the dragon slayer a breather as everyone around him held faces of complete shock. Of course they questioned him if he truly heard them correctly and Natsu kept admitting that it was the truth, they spiked the punch and if they drank any of it, it'll mean that they would no longer like Gray the way they do now.

"They can't be serious, I know they would do whatever they can to win but relying on such tactics is beneath them." Erza said as it truly was puzzling that Laxus and his group would go so far as use some sort of elixir or potion to take them out of the race.

"You're right, but I don't think we can take any chances." Lucy said as she nervously played with her hands completely baffled at how close they were, how close she was, to have lost the feelings she held dear to the ice mage.

"Then how do we go about this? I wouldn't put it past the idea that Gray might have been told to make sure everyone drank some their punch." Levy said thinking logically if this truly what their plan was. Although she could not deny that somewhere in her being, she wished to drink the tainted punch.

"I can evaporate it before it comes close to my mouth." Natsu offered, but they all knew that he could only limit it to himself and possibly Lucy since she sat right next to him without producing so much heat to gain Gray's attention.

"I'm more than capable of finding a way to avoid drinking." Erza said as the whole table was well aware of the many things the great Titania can do, which just left Levy to think of something for herself.

"Well I'll think of something so don't worry about me." Levy said with a smile, however she was conflicted between truly dodging this bullet or taking it head on and see what the future holds for her.

Natsu was about to say something towards her, but the words died in his mouth as the familiar scent of pine and peppermint wafted its way into his super sense of smell and knew that Gray was just a table away and they had to steer the conversation to some other topic. Of course he picked a random topic that no doubt Gray would call it idiotic, but that would drive away any suspicions he had about them although it didn't prove any use as the girls were busy ogling Gray in his butler getup which Lucy could immediately tell that it had been tailored by one of her spirits no less. Half their minds were in a daze at how adorable, which is a word hardly used for someone like Gray, he looked as he served them their punch with an air of slight embarrassment.

Once the cups were down, the entire team came back to their senses to realize that their hands had tentatively grasped the spiked drink and nervously played around with it as Gray had yet moved from his place. Natsu knew he could help Lucy get out of this and Erza was as tough as they come not to drink anything she didn't want to, but he was unsure of what they should do for Levy while Gray merely passed a hand through his hair. No one dared to say a word until Erza had enough of the tense atmosphere and spoke out first, much to the relief of the others.

"Gray I would like to apologize for what had happened earlier, it was merely a spur of the moment thing. Please strike me for my undeserved assault on you." Erza bowed, but Gray gave a mere chuckle as he looked over his shoulder at a certain brunette, giving enough time for Natsu to evaporate his and Lucy's drink although he couldn't reach for Levy's in time before he turned around.

"Don't worry about it Erz, I know that both of you didn't mean anything by it. Besides I got to see how you feel every time me and the idiot over there get into fights for no reason." He looked over towards his rival and noticed that his and Lucy's cups were already empty, allowing a bit of relief wash over him now that those two were cured already yet Erza and Levy hadn't taken a sip.

"I appreciate that you now understand how I feel about you," For some reason Erza couldn't help but feel heat glow around her face as she said that, "a-and Natsu constantly bickering when you should act like civilized comrades." Erza went to take a sip to calm her nerves, but as soon as she realized that the rim of the cup was at her lips she recoiled and spilled half its contents onto the table.

"Everything alright Erza?" Gray asked once she settled herself, but felt a small pang of worry now that some of the potion had just fallen out.

"Fine, I'm just fine. A spider merely spooked me is all." Erza replied defensively and Gray seemed to have accepted that and now turned his gaze towards Levy who began fiddling with her fingers before reaching out for the cup.

All she needed to do was pretend to drink it, just bring it to her lips and act out as if she was enjoying to satisfy the ice mage so that she didn't take the tampered punch, but she hesitated. Sure for the first time in what felt like forever, the blue haired girl had finally found someone who could avidly appreciate literature that was not a part of her club and yet at the same time she felt it somewhat wrong. Gray is a nice guy, one whose whole life was shrouded with a sense of mystery and the more you dove down that rabbit hole, them more you wished to discover what kind of person Gray Fullbuster really was, but her heart had wavered ever since Gajeel admitted in his own way of speech that he cared for her. The long haired man was just as equally mysterious as Gray in areas that sometimes were similar, yet completely different from one another and maybe it was just curiosity that directed her to chase after Gray alongside Lucy, Erza and Natsu. Levy understood that even if she wished to be with him, she'd be satisfied as good friends and literature enthusiasts since deep down she knew that her heart already belonged to another.

 _ **"This is for the best, besides Gray is Lucy's man after all."**_ With a satisfied smile gracing face, Levy brought the cup up towards her lips and allowed the slightly sour taste to dance around her tongue before letting it go and drinking the rest away.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Gray casually smiled as he watched Levy sip away at her drink and was satisfied that everyone at Lucy's table had managed to drink the antidote, save for Erza although he was positive that the amount left in her cup would be enough to break the potion's effect. With that he gave them a bow, such as any butler would do as far as he knew, and went off to gather a few more cups as they were the last ones he served to his team mates and Levy. As for them, they waited for Gray to be out of earshot before bombarding the petite blue haired girl with a mountain of questions; most of which consisted on the why she drank the tampered punch. She of course started to calm them down since even for her, she was having a little bit of an issue keeping up with what they were saying.

"I know what the consequences were for drinking it, but I felt that it was for the best that I take it. Even so, it didn't taste like there was anything in it at all if just a tiny bit sour but I'm sure that was from some of the fruit Mira used." Levy said as the others were giving her worried looks, unsure if there was something else she wasn't telling them.

"Well we can't change what has already happened, but are you positive that this is what you truly wanted Levy?" Erza asked and she was met with a an agreeing nod from the blue haired girl.

"Yeah I'm alright with what I did, but don't you worry you guys. I'm still rooting for this team and I'll help you to the very end." Levy enthusiastically said to push away all other self doubt, but she had the striking feeling that Lucy wasn't very convinced with her answer.

"In any case we've managed to dodge a bullet with the tactic, however, this doesn't mean we're alone in the manner." Erza began as she looked over towards Mira's table, spotting the untouched cups they had and believed that they had also caught on.

"Yeah that was my fault, I may have told the other teams that the Thunder Tribe had spiked the punch." Natsu admitted and was expecting to get a hard strike from Erza, but it never came as she was simply contemplating his actions.

"I understand why you did this Natsu, you do prefer to play on an even field so you want this advantage." The redhead summarized and the slayer merely nodded to whatever she had said since he lost track of what she was saying for a few seconds.

"But he merely told the other main team which left the rest of the guild to drink the punch." Lucy said aloud as she watched everyone else drink away happily.

"It's hard to say it, but there's not much else that we could do for them now. Let's just hope they don't become anti-Gray individuals." The requip mage followed up, yet her eye skeptical as to why Cana was given a normal mug of booze instead of punch.

She expected her to get a cup like the rest since Gray was personally serving her and yet she was drinking regular alcohol instead, but then came the thought that maybe she doesn't need to drink it. There could be the chance that Laxus or one of his people had managed to get to her before everyone else and so she was no longer a target of their concern, but she tossed that paranoid like thought away since it couldn't be true. After all, they had only just recently fought over Gray like immature children a few hours ago so it couldn't be possible that her feelings for Gray are no longer around and she's kept an eye on her ever since so there's no way someone could've given it to her without her noticing. Still they all must be suspicious of what they are drinking, Team Mira (as so dubbed by Erza) was keeping to themselves, but once their drinks arrived they merely spoke to Gray before he left them alone and as for the Phantom Team she had no idea where they were which was also suspicious on their part since they haven't made a move in nearly a week.

 _ **"No doubt Mira and her group are watching out for Laxus, I wouldn't count them out in only asking**_ **my _Gray to take their order or Loke for that matter."_** Erza thought to herself as she passed her cup over towards Natsu to evaporate what was left of the punch away before she accidentally tried to drink it again.

It was just as how Erza had thought once everyone was eyeing Laxus and his group after what they had tried to pull, but what was rather interesting for her and her team was the fact that Evergreen had also drunk her cup of punch. The team knew that it might have been laced with anything although according to Natsu, every cup had received some sort of elixir into them so the question became why was Laxus sabotaging his own team? This left them all to ponder, yet it didn't last very long as Gray, Loke, Laxus and Freed began serving food and snacks that were appropriate to each person. Needless to say Erza was in a romantic daze as Gray had served her a large slice of strawberry cheesecake, Natsu entrapped by the flames he delivered and both Lucy and Levy were given a number of favored sweets that the ice mage had discovered from Loke that they both really enjoyed.

"Hi everyone, I finally got the chance to try Mira-san's punch that everyone was so interested in last time, but I kind of found it a little sour." Wendy said as as she walked up towards the group with the ever serious Carla in her arms, but she was met with strange expressions from everyone else that stopped them midway from what they were doing.

"You did huh? Well did you feel any different from drinking it?" Levy asked cautiously and they stayed silent as the young girl was giving some thought to her answer.

"No not really, was I supposed to feel something?" Wendy innocently asked as Levy frantically waved her hands in a dismissing fashion.

"No, no, no you didn't have to feel anything. It's just that some people...uhh.."

"...Some people say that they feel a sense of getting reinvigorated after drinking her punch." Erza cut in as she was aware that the blue haired girl had a real tough time coming up with convincing lies on the spot.

"Now that I think about it, I did feel a little tingly for a few seconds and nothing much happened after that." The young dragon slayer admitted as she gave them a confused look, but Erza merely brushed it off as nothing before she delved to deep to what they knew.

"In any case, come and sit with us Wendy. I'm sure you've got a lot to say about Gray and how he's like an older brother to you." Lucy said as she was met with a blank stare from the twin tailed girl, most likely processing what the blonde had asked her.

"Gray-san as my older brother?" She played with the thought a little longer before a small pink tint brushed her cheeks as she realized where that came from. "Yes, well I'll try to put something out there for you Lucy-san."

"Yeah sure, no rush okay Wendy." Lucy replied, but she knew everyone else caught onto that small pause knowing that something did happen with the whatever was in punch.

"To start I must say that he's a very gentle person for the most part, he may look rough on the outside with all his scars but I think he's a tender soul on the inside." Wendy said as the heat in her face hadn't let up for a second as she said the first thing that came to mind to get the topic going for Lucy's sake since she had invited her to start the conversation.

"Tender doesn't sound like a word I'd use for the ice pop since he can punch a guy straight through a brick wall and keep going if he wanted to, but i gotta admit he knows how to hold back with his guildmates." Natsu said as he was mostly on the receiving end of those types of punches, but that's what made it fun to fight the ice mage.

"True, but even Gray understands how we all feel depending on the situation. I on the other hand wish to understand how he truly feels from time to time, he understands us and yet I struggle to do so." Erza added honestly as the ice mage could be represented as a sealed tome, whereas she and her teammate were like open books to his eyes.

"You both have known Gray the longest in a physical and emotional level if I had to guess, but I think that when it comes to him, we've got to the world through his eyes and not ours." Lucy spoke up, receiving Erza's attention immediately while Natsu gave a confused look and both Wendy and Levy could see where she was going with this. "I mean to say that amongst all that Gray's been through, I think I've managed to see the tortured soul that hides beneath the ice and the snow."

"That's deep Luce...Say more!" Natsu claimed which in fact meant he was rather interested in what the celestial mage was saying.

"No matter how it goes, Gray pushes himself to keep up with you two" She continues, pointing towards Erza and Natsu, "we know what he's lost in the past and it still haunts to this day, which means that the only way that he could avoid that happening again is to keep growing stronger so that he can match up to you two."

"Why would he wish to do that? He's already a powerful combatant and was a hopeful during the S-class exams." Erza pointed out as Lucy waved it off even if she agreed with her.

"True but compared with Natsu's unbelievable power and your combat prowess he's still at a level that he believes is not enough, I can't blame him either since even I am blown away by what you two can do on your own sometimes." Lucy had actually given Erza and Natsu some food for thought as they had never given a glance at how underclassed Gray was even though he was keeping up with them for so long. "I don't know how I compare to Gray, but I can see the passionate soul he has to protect his new family after losing it all before and in that brief time were in his home I could tell that he has a sense of loneliness about him."

"In all honesty Gray does tend to come off as a bit of a misfit, more so if he's on his own without any of you nearby." Levy cut in as there had been a time when she saw Gray in that way and he seemed so disconnected with everything if left to his own thoughts, but that had been during her first week in joining the guild. "I'm only speculating, but it could very well be a reason to why he's very distant with some of the guild and rather cold to others."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I have felt that way about his being for some time now but I never took action believing that it was all my imagination." The requip mage thought back to a time when the mage was at his lowest but simply put a brave face on to avoid anyone worrying about it. "I'm glad that we have someone like you in our lives to point the subtle things we'd all miss about our dear Gray, thank you Lucy."

"W-Well I just have a small knack for it, but I guess I find it ironic how I was attracted to him as he was someone who lost everything while I was someone who had everything." The blonde mage saw it that way, even if she didn't have it anymore and gave it up willing while Gray was forced to by powers way beyond his own at the time. "Like some old poet use to say, "It takes a troubled soul to understand another" but then again that's how all of us connect so easily, right?"

"We sure do." Erza said with a smile as even Levy and Wendy believed that it was true and not only towards them, but to all of Fairy Tail.

* * *

Back in the guild's kitchen with things settled(or so they believed) Laxus, Freed, Gray and Loke had gone towards the faucets and began cleaning up the cups that they had collected from everyone once they finished drinking. Gray had the sense of letting out a breath of relief now that the immediate problem was solved, but he had the strangest feeling that not everything has been completely solved yet and continued to have that loom over him while he dried off each cup that was passed to him. Loke, who was receiving the dried cups to put away, had noticed the still tensed face of Gray's and wondered why he still looked so worried now that the whole problem was solved and all he had to do now was pick Lucy. Of course the other two didn't really care so much since their role in all this was finally completed and their lives could finally go back to normal.

"Come on Gray lighten up, it's all over now. Just be happy that we've solved this problem and get ready to finally commit yourself to an honest girl wholeheartedly." Loke said as Gray turned to him, yet his expression didn't change at all.

"I know Loke, but I've just got this feeling that it's not over yet." The ice mage replied handing another cup as Laxus scoffed from his position of rinsing the soaped up cups.

"Hopefully those feelings of yours work in combat just as well since this could very well be the calm before the storm, but what do I know." The lightning mage couldn't really say he's ever been in something like this before and in truth he had eyes on one woman who in turn was also a victim of the water mage's potion, but he wouldn't tell them that.

"I must say that Laxus could very well be in the right, since there could still be more to the situation than what we've been exposed to." Freed said as Fairy Tail's past has shown that not everything is completely solved on the first go.

This conversation kept going back and forth with the pessimism still evident in each added batch of conversation with no end in sight as it seemed that there was plenty of secondary doubts about Loke's plan to go around. Loke was a grown and aged man so he could take a little bad mouthing concerning his plan, but there was a limit to how much a person can be so doubtful about something and these guys were proving his point false as they had plenty to say. With each word, with each comment the spirit was losing bits and pieces of his confidence and he honestly didn't expect Gray, Freed and Laxus to think so alike.

"Alright guys, I think that's enough bashing on my plan. In the end it still worked and I'm sure we can deal with whatever little amount of backlash that gets thrown our way." Loke said as the three other men looked at him incredulous looks.

"And you're sure there's nothing to worry about?" Laxus asked skeptically as he was never one for plans that involved so much inconspicuous action so that it goes smoothly, he's more of a direct kind of guy.

"My plan is fool proof, there's no reason to worry about it so much." The lion spirit added as he could tell that they still had their doubts and he needed them to believe the plan really worked.

"Is it Natsu proof?" Gray asked and Loke had momentarily stumbled at the thought that the dragon slayer was a completely different factor he hadn't accounted for.

"Don't sweat it, my plan was so smooth that not even Natsu could accidentally slip it up." In all honesty, Loke was somewhat skeptical himself whether or not the pink haired slayer would manage to screw this up but he couldn't falter everyone else's confidence at this point. Even if it sounded pretty low already from their previous conversation before he interrupted.

"Well that moron's capable of ruining plans day in and day out, take the water mage for example; there hasn't been a day I haven't seen Natsu mess up one of her plans to get the ice pants' attention." Laxus said as he remembered seeing her try to give him a basket full of cookies only to have Natsu toss it into the air and let it fall all over a table for the others to eat, but from what he heard they tasted pretty good.

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen Juvia ever since I came back to the guild." Gray said looking over towards Loke for an explanation, while he was stacking away the last remaining cups.

"Ever since I discovered what she had done, we've set a deal in which she had to help restore everyone back to normal and do what she can to make up for what she had done." Loke replied as he dusted his hands if signifying a job well done, yet he could tell by Gray's curious stare that he needed a little more info than that. "She's helping out with Plan B if needed, but I doubt it now."

"What's Plan B?" The obvious question Gray's had on his mind ever since he heard Freed and Loke talk about it before hand.

"It was a fail safe in case we failed with the initial plan, however Loke's confidence with it's success has proved that it truly isn't necessary any more." Freed answered as he was putting away the gloves he wore when he was washing the dishes, but he understood that it was best that Gray not learn it.

"Well... whatever, the most I can say is that I just want to put this behind me already." Gray said as he walked with others out onto the main guild hall, but found it strange that it was rather quiet for this time of day.

It seemed that way up until Evergreen came rushing towards Laxus in a hurry as the sound of multiple footsteps could be heard and it wasn't long before the other teams vying for Gray created a semi-circle around them. Of course all their glares were directed towards Laxus and his two Thunder Tribe members, leaving Gray somewhat worried about the situation and Loke to realize that he might have given too much credit to himself. Judging by how they were, the strawberry blonde could summarize that the probability they realized what was going on was evident or they might have misunderstood something and only got wind of it by some source.

 _"Is it Natsu Proof?"_ Gray's voice rang in Loke's head as he mentally facepalmed at the revelation that it truly might be Natsu who caused all this. _**"How does that pink haired loose cannon know how to mess things up?!"**_

"Loke please understand that I take great pleasure in saying "I told you so." Gray deadpanned as a number of his friends were staring them down intensely and if the butler outfit he was wearing wasn't magically bound to him, he would've stripped it off by now.

"Well this is just perfect, I guess now's a good time than any to say we're moving on to Plan B." Laxus commented and Gray was about to question what exactly was Plan B before the lightning mage knocked him out with a good dosage of his lighting, hoisting him up onto his shoulder once he slumped over. "Freed, Ever put your hands in front of me and over each the other." The two did what was asked of them without hesitation, although they did catch the gasps once Laxus had knocked Gray out a few seconds ago.

"Alright everyone, if you want your ice mage come get him over at Galuna Island and I'll graciously hand him over to the first group that gets there. Better hurry since I'm giving you two days to reach us before I decide to keep him for myself!" Laxus exclaimed as he put his large hand over his two other friends', his lightning surging around him. "Good luck." He added before all four of them vanished into a lightning strike right out of the guild headed for the only place Laxus had mentioned.

Everyone hadn't expected that to happen at all, as soon as the rest of their guildmates had finished eating the remaining eight who still had their feelings for Gray had made sure to clear them out leaving them along with Wendy, Carla and Happy alone with the perpetrators who wanted to eliminate the rest of the competition. Now they needed to go on their very own rescue mission to save the target of their affection from Laxus' possession before time runs out. It wasn't long before those final eight turned their heads towards the last one still in front of them. Loke was left agape that Laxus moved so fast in transitioning plans that he hadn't realized those who were remaining were looking at him and he couldn't help the beads of sweat that began dripping ever so slightly from his forehead.

"Well that was unexpected and would you look at the time!" He began rolling up his sleeve slightly towards the nonexistent watch on his wrist. "It looks like I have a few minutes left in Earth Realm, better head home while I still have plenty of time. Uhh...Good luck with everything everybody, talk to you guys later!" Loke hastily said as he shimmered brightly before disappearing into the safety of the Celestial Spirit World.

"LLLLLLooooookkkkkkkkkkeeeeeee!" Lucy called out angrily while he shimmered reaching for his key, but was stopped by Erza's gauntleted hand, looking up to see her shaking her head.

"Now is not the time Lucy, right now we must go and save Gray from Laxus' dastardly clutches." She said requipping a blade into her hand, pointing outward towards the guild doors in a manner befitting a general leading her men into battle. "We have but one destination...To Galuna Island!"

"YEAH!" Everyone cheered as they quickly went off to gather some supplies before they headed out to the final stretch in order to finally have the ice mage all to themselves.

Not a few minutes after they had all cleared out the guild hall, an aging guild master had made his first few steps into the guild building after being away for nearly a month on guild master business and council meetings for recent problems his brats had done. Though he was very surprised to find not only a quiet guild hall, but an empty one at that as not even one person was left in the guild with only plates stacked in an orderly fashion on tables ready to get picked up for cleaning being the one thing to greet him.

"Where on Earth Land have all those damn brats run off to now?"

* * *

 **A/N:** _This came out much sooner and faster than what even I expected, but I don't really mind as I fell into the groove of writing this once I managed to finish the last chapter, but I won't bother you lovely people with the details. Thank you for reading this latest chapter and don't forget to Follow, Favorite, write a comment or recommend to anyone that would enjoy this story. The choice is yours and do whatever pleases you, with that I'll see you in the next chapter._


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

"For the most part we've cured mostly all of the guild. All's that's left are those after us and their Gray." Laxus said once they finally touched down onto the island, dumping Gray unceremoniously to the ground.

"That's true, but it seems that I must make preparations immediately. I'll be heading towards the Moon Temple's underground cave, hopefully Juvia and her group are finished for the ritual." Freed said as he gave a slight bow to Laxus before he went off into the jungle like forest.

"Laxus can you please tell me why we're here and why you brought Gray along with us?" Evergreen asked as she was completely out of the loop since she was confronted back at the guild before rushing her way towards the muscular blonde.

"I'll let someone else explain the situation, for now take the ice pants towards the only village on this island and spend the day there." Laxus said as he helped Evergreen in supporting Gray from up off the ground. "I told the others they had two days, but I'm sure they'll probably arrive here by nightfall tomorrow."

"What will you be doing then?" The bispeceled woman asked as the lightning mage merely turned his head towards the peak of a mountain.

"I'm going to have a chat with a few of our guildmates that are already here." He replied as he heard the groggy noises of Gray waking up and directed her towards the village before he too disappeared into the forest.

"Where's Bickslow when you him to do the heavy lifting?" Ever murmured to herself as the now half-conscious ice mage was able to move his feet, so she didn't have to drag him although the green haired woman wouldn't complain so much since he wasn't a towering lump of muscle like Elfman.

The self proclaimed Fairy Queen made her way through the forest with as much ease as walking through a sand pit that was shin high. It was the only thing she could complain about since the trees provided enough shade and the heat wasn't affecting her since the guildmate she was supporting was as cold as a freezer. Not to mention that he did smell rather nice given the continuous walking around in the guild he was doing earlier, but soon came the odd feeling and realization that she wasn't reacting to him at all. Ever had remembered how giddy she became just getting near him or just getting the fewest words they spoke to each other out, but now there was no increase towards her heartbeat and no overreaction to how close they were.

His arm was draped over her shoulder as her's was spread around his back in a side hug, but she just didn't feel so embarassed yet it felt more like helping a friend. It bothered her how easily she was willing to steal a kiss from his sleeping form and yet now that his face was mere inches away from hers, she just didn't want him to knock her head with his. It was odd for she was actually love struck a week ago with the ice mage and then at this moment she couldn't feel any romantic feelings towards the dark haired young man. Evergreen was soon brought out of her musings when the aforementioned mage began to stir awake and completely open his eyes back into the conscious state of the world.

"Evergreen? Where's everyone else? Where are we?" Gray asked slowly as his body still felt heavy and he could still feel the occasional tingle from the jolts of electricity that ran through his body.

"Easy there Gray, Laxus knocked you out for a bit and brought us here to Galuna Island." She replied, suddenly surprised when the other mage's face morphed into one of complete surprise.

"Galuna Island?!" The ice mage never expected to hear that name of all places that Laxus could've taken them, but when he remembered the last few words the mage spoke he came to the conclusion that this was Plan B. "I should've known."

"Should've known what Gray?" Ever was simply confused as to why this island had any significance to Laxus or even him, but she assumed that the ice mage could even tell her what was going on.

"Ever, the entire guild was exposed by a potion that had constructed feelings for me within those who had taken it. It took a while for us to discover this, but when we did we set out to right this wrong however the original plan to give them the antidote didn't go so well since there was still a few people who hadn't taken it." Gray paused to see if the green haired woman was following what he was saying and was directed to continue by the way she swayed her hand forward.

"I was never told what Plan B was until you told me where we were and I could fully assume that they are planning to use Moon Drip." Gray concluded, but he could tell that Ever had never heard of it before and decided to explain. "It's a powerful spell that harnesses the energy of the moon to break any spell created. I'm unsure what it'll do to a mage, but if the others are careful than enough exposure will break the spell their under without causing them harm."

"That's a lot to take in, but how do you know so much about this spell?" It was actually a wonder that Gray knew such a powerful spell, since the only people she knew who can produce them are the dragon slayers, the Master, the S-class mages and even Cana.

"It's a long story, anyways where are we going now that I think about it?" The ice mage had been too busy thinking about the current events that he had no idea where Evergreen was taking him.

"Laxus said there's a village in this direction and sent both you and me there for the day." At that, Gray knew what she was talking about and decided to lead the way although he was going to a have a nice long chat with Loke about all this later.

* * *

Laxus would be lying if he said that he had little faith in the original plan since he was hoping that it would work no problem. This little fiasco could have ended right at the guild and now he was stuck on some random island to fix the loose ends that slipped through their hands, but at least it couldn't get any worse.

He was dead wrong.

Upon making it to the peak of the mountain that housed the Moon Temple, an argument was breaking out between Gajeel and that other ice mage from Lamia Scale, Leon or Lyon was his name (Laxus couldn't really be bothered with it). Apparently the ritual required for the Moon Drip needed to done in a certain way, which of course the dog looking man demonstrated but the long haired man found it completely ridiculous. It was only until Laxus had made his presence known that they stopped arguing and gave him the whole story, to which it resulted in his current position of thinking things over to resolve the problem.

"Just do the damn ritual, you're acting like a whiny bitch." The lightning mage reprimanded the other dragon slayer which earned him a look of disdain and the blonde man really didn't care for it, he's gotten looks like that plenty of times over to have any effect on him.

"I'd like to see you try this stupid bowing! No way in hell will I look like some groveling peasant!" Gajeel retorted while Juvia, who was sitting at the sidelines, had decided to intervene and calm down her best friend.

"Loke didn't tell you?" Lyon spoke up this time as the other three people looked his way. "In order for the ritual's energy gathering to exceed a nominal rate for the spell to be broken faster, there needs to be a number of people to hasten the gathering. He mentioned that alongside my dear Juvia and her close brute friend, that you and your Thunder Tribe would assist in this endeavor."

"I wonder how much lightning that little shit can take before I worry his blonde master?" Laxus said in a menacing tone as this was the second time he was forced into doing something without proper knowledge beforehand.

"Hey Laxus I guess we moved onto Plan B if you're here." Came the joking tone of Bickslow as he made his way over towards the group. "What's up?"

"Where the hell have you been because the last time I saw you was when you were telling Mira about the punch." Laxus asked the armored man since his help serving the antidote would've been useful.

"After I told Mira I made my way to Galuna, Loke gave me the option of helping with the serving or coming here to learn the ritual for Plan B. I'm sure you can guess which one I picked." Bickslow replied in a prideful way for some od reason and all the muscular blonde could do was face palm at him.

 _ **"I'm surrounded by idiots."**_ He thought bothered, turning to face Lyon once again as the silver haired man merely looked at him disinterestedly. "Screw this to hell, but it looks like we don't have a choice. I'll do the stupid ritual, so the rest of you better do a great job because I won't be doing this a second time."

"Very well then, follow me and Toby will help teach you the necessary steps for it to work. I'm sure you can help out the last member of your Thunder Tribe when the time arrives, correct?" Lyon asked although he was fully aware that Laxus would agree in any regard so when he was answered with a grunt the ice mage took it as a 'yes'.

For the next few hours or so, Laxus was learning to correctly focus his magical power around him to fully control the flow of the moon's light energy. Of course the moon wasn't out to actually practice this with, but he was getting the gist of it on his own, but he had to... _persuade_ Gajeel to continue with his lesson so there wouldn't be any mistakes when the time came. After a few bandages and healing salve, Gajeel was also on his knees learning to control both his magic and the ethernano around him in the similar way Laxus was trying to do although he couldn't understand why the Rain Woman was capable of achieving this so easily.

Toby had taught them the best way he could with Lyon supervising and had managed to do so without screaming at anybody since he received pretty harsh death glares from both slayers when he raised his voice at them. As for Lyon, he took time to recollect on his past and lost himself to his own thoughts remembering the deeds he had done on the island all for the sake of accomplishing a fool-hearted dream. It had been seven years since he stepped foot on the island as he never wanted to give it a second thought, but he knew there was one who frequented coming here every year. His junior never changed from the trouble seeking ways he had when they were students and like those times before, he had to bail him out of it.

Juvia watched from her place as Lyon looked to be deep in thought and wondered what he was thinking about. She had been on the island for a day already, yesterday being her first as Loke had informed her that she and Gajeel were to make their way there as a safety precaution in case his plan didn't work. The water mage had hoped that his plan would work for it seemed fitting that the mess she had created was about to be corrected the same way it had occurred, but when Laxus had arrived at the top of the temple she knew that her hopes were lost.

FLASHBACK

 _Juvia had been trying her hardest with learning to manipulate the ethernano around her to a single directed point in order for it to work like a pipe leading downwards into the temple's lower levels. She had already managed to get a tighter grip on her own magic beforehand. It was a bit tedious if she was being honest, but if it was for the sake of her Gray-sama then she would do her best to make sure nothing went wrong on her end. Her ever rough looking best friend was more than a little pissed off at the requirements to actually do the ritual in the correct way, but she wasn't about to let him or his arguing disturb her now._

 _Loke had made it clear that with the usage of potions to gain Gray's favor was pushing too many boundaries, especially with her recent slip up and explained that she needed to make amends for it. Juvia was simply glad that Gajeel had agreed to take part of the fall with her instead of leaving her to her fate, plus he assumed that he should do this as a favor for freeing him from the spell's influence first. As those memories played out, it helped boost her focus for her true goal and was simply hoping that her long haired friend would give in already and do his part. Then again, he saw it as a waste of time since the original plan was going to work flawlessly so there was no real point for him to learn such a thing._

 _"Gajeel-kun, Juvia asks that you listen to what Toby-san is doing. It is required so that we can free everyone from Juvia's blunder." Juvia had asked in a kind tone, one of which she was positive would work on the dragon slayer, but he merely clicked his tongue in response._

 _"I believed that what we needed to do would be really simple matter, but I didn't sign up to act like a pansy just to shine a light fifteen stories beneath us into a cave!" He retorted although he was facing the calm face of Lyon as he responded while Toby nervously shyed away._

 _"Just follow Toby's instruction and everything will go smoothly, plus you had promised my lovely Juvia that you'd support her as her close friend did you not?" Lyon countered and Gajeel tried his hardest to suppress the blush forming on his cheeks after his remark. He wasn't one to announce how close his friendships were to other people._

 _While those two kept going back and forth, Juvia had successfully managed to control the ethernano around her but she still needed to practice as it was still unknown how she'd fare against the moon's energy. As she took a small break, Juvia couldn't understand why Gajeel was being embarrassed about doing this; it wasn't as if someone aside from the Thunder Tribe will see and even Laxus was going to do it as well. At that moment the water mage could feel the expulsion of strong magical energy nearby and turned her head to see the blonde haired mage she was recently thinking about making his way over._

 _She knew it was for the greater good that she learn Moon Drip, but she never expected to have to actually go through with it. Just with the large man's presence alone, she understood that Loke's plan had failed and now they had to go along with the Moon Drip. From the corner of her eye, the blue haired woman noticed the slightest flinch from Lyon as he looked to be unhappy with using the spell as she was. The only thing that Juvia knew about Galuna Island, Moon Drip and the area they were on in general was that they all were connected with Lyon and her Gray-sama, but she could only assume that there were a few bad memories here._

 _From that point on to when Laxus had arrived and the other two explaining the situation to him, Juvia had decided to get back at practicing and over heard how angry the blonde dragon slayer was now that he learned he was a part of this little operation. Juvia could only sigh as a one sided fight broke out and had to heal a wounded Gajeel, to which he had finally decided to follow Toby's instructions albeit in an angry mood._

FLASHBACK END

Once again Juvia sighed, wishing that she would get to see her Gray-sama soon since Plan B had meant that Gray was to be taken to the island as well. For now she worked with her group well into the night, the lunar light soon illuminating the surrounding area and this served as a perfect chance to find out how well they could do with Moon Drip. It wasn't hard to tell that Gajeel wasn't wishing to cooperate, but he he still took his place in the circle and began his control of the ethernano in front of him.

It wasn't long before they felt a powerful surge of energy pass through them, which even caused Laxus to slightly stumble as the effects felt somewhat draining while holding the spell. Soon enough a purplish beam of light came raining down in the circle they created with magic seals guiding the light straight into the temple and they watched with wrapped attention as a powerful pulse of magical energy would rhythmically come down the beam of light. It was astounding to the Fairy Tailers of how much power the moon possessed and had to admit it that it felt slightly overwhelming at first, but it actually surprised them to know that Toby was the one to single handedly produce the spell. Even if it was at a lower dosage of power that was being gathered.

As the Fairy Tailers were busy holding the spell, Lyon watched not too far away and timed them on how they were doing. He was impressed that they could hold the spell for about ten minutes before the signs of stress began to show and found it acceptable for their first time in handling such a powerful spell. Once they reached the fifteen minute mark, the ice mage had instructed them to release the spell and that they had done a fine job at accomplishing a feat that took his acolytes, several years ago, nearly half a month to hold for the time they did. The silver haired man went on to explain that the most they were going to need to make sure the potion was nullified would be about seven minutes, give or take two minutes, but if need be then they had to continue it to about fifteen. It wouldn't be much of a problem although they would be rather exhausted if they passed eighteen minutes.

In the end the group had agreed that it was enough for tonight and that they should all head out to get some rest, much to the iron dragon slayer's happiness as he had become exhausted with how much concentration he had done previously. Juvia was about to head out as well, but was stopped by Laxus as he informed the others to head on ahead without them. The water mage was prepared for harsh words and to become reprimanded for her actions, but all she heard was the blonde giving out a grunt as he sat down on a nearby rock wall.

"I ain't about to say that what you did was harmful to the guild because I've already done some worse shit in the past. All I'm gonna ask is why you did it?" Laxus voiced out as he rubbed his shoulder, slightly stiff from all the bowing he had been doing.

"Juvia could not take anymore unanswered questions, so Juvia decided to take action. Juvia is aware that this was not the first time Laxus-san has caught her doing such a thing." The water mage had become aware that the dragon slayer's gaze fell upon her when she was about to enact one of her plans.

"True, I have kept my eye on you, but it's mostly to see that bumbling idiot Natsu mess you up. Still it doesn't permit you to go as far as use such a potion." Although Laxus felt like he was acting like his gramps with her, he couldn't deny the part of him that believed he was being hypocritical.

"Love does crazy things to a person, Juvia understands it and she believes that Laxus-san does as well." Juvia continued as the blonde raised in interested eyebrow her way. "She simply wishes that Gray-sama loves her they way she does to him."

"Hate to break it to ya, but I think the ice pants ain't exactly wishing to return your feelings." Laxus replied bluntly and he watched as she momentarily recoiled at his claim. "The moron doesn't do well with feelings and I think that you're wasting your time with him." In all honesty he didn't wish to break the blue haired woman's heart, but he couldn't take the fact that no one was being upfront about it with her anymore.

"Juvia believes that Gray-sama is still embarrassed to express himself to Juvia and will wait for him when he's ready." Juvia reaffirmed and Laxus was hating himself for what he was about to do next.

"Juvia, I'm telling you this as not only your guildmate, but as your comrade as well; Gray doesn't hold the same feelings towards you." He knew that the woman was stunned silent, but it was for the best so situations like these don't pop right back up in the future. "I've known him for years and there was only one girl he had ever truly cared about deeply, but she broke his fragile heart and he sealed himself off ever since." He watched as she leaned against a pillar for support before he continued.

"Not to be a giant asshole or anything, but I think it was time for you to know that he's way too different compared to you and you two don't really mix well with each other." He stood up and walked over to her, placing an awkward friendly hand onto her shoulder. "Go look for him and apologize for what's happened, from there you should learn where he really stands and see for yourself whether or not you're willing to keep up the chase." With that he removed his hand and made his way down from the roof, leaving behind a tear stricken Juvia once he could no longer see her face.

* * *

The water mage wandered aimlessly throughout the temple without proper cause of what she wanted to do at that point. She couldn't lie that there was this small feeling that she was about to be told about this by someone, most likely from a love rival, spewing nonsense to break her conviction, but is wasn't like that. It came directly from Laxus, someone who was just as serious as Gajeel was and it made the point of how her fears were truly coming to be and that's why she let her tears fall down towards the temple floor.

She wiped away her tears, reclining against a broken pillar and wondered what was she supposed to think now that her feelings were in turmoil. She wanted to lose herself in thought and drift to sleep without a second thought to cry about her wounded love, until she heard footsteps walking down the hall nearby. Something was calling out to her to follow and that was what she did, passing corridors, halls and chamber rooms with each step and down towards the next floor. It was only when she was making her way towards the last turn that she realized that she was entering the underground cave beneath the temple and right in front of her was Gray.

Juvia stiffened slightly at the sight of his back, questioning whether or not she make herself known although she didn't get much of a choice as he continued walking deeper into the cave. She followed him as far as he went until he stopped inside a large chamber, small pools of water in front of them with areas that seemed to be connected to the ocean outside. The water mage watched as Gray took a few more tentative steps before she decided to make herself known and watched as her ice mage turned to look at her with mild surprise. He regarded her in a friendly manner and Juvia decided to take this time to walk up next to him, her thoughts semi-occupied with what Laxus had told her some time ago.

"I would've thought you'd gone to sleep by now." Gray said aloud as he broke the silence between them, taking a seat on a nearby rock while Juvia simply stood beside him.

"Juvia wished to talk a small stroll before she turned in for the night." She answered him evenly, although a part of her knew that her voice may break if she wasn't careful. "Juvia believed that Gray-sama would want to get some rest after all that has happened."

"Yeah well I got a little preoccupied with my thoughts to get any real sleep," He answered her, taking a glance up at her before turning his gaze back towards the pools. "You alright? Your eyes are red, like you've been crying recently."

"It's nothing really, just dust from the temple walls is all." She lied and Gray merely gave a small noise of confirmation while she stood there with the feelings of anxiety building up.

"This place is pretty old, you better go get some sleep since it'll be a big day tomorrow. I don't want to keep up more than you have to." Gray spoke in a distant manner as his eyes gazed over each separate pool towards those that lead out into the ocean.

Juvia bowed her head as she turned to leave, but stopped mid step and found the courage to finally confront everything with the ice mage. "Pardon me Gray-sama, but Juvia wishes...no, I wish to apologize for what I've done to you." At this Gray turned to face her with a questioning gaze and awaited for her to continue.

"It was my fault all this has happened, I only wished for you to finally acknowledge my feelings for you." Juvia spoke up without referring to herself in the third person and Gray knew that she was being serious if she was doing so. "I never meant for any of this to happen, I only wanted for you to be with me."

"Sometimes things don't work out like you plan them to, huh?" Gray answered her as he turned away and a flicker of worriment passed over the water mage believing that he may have been alluding to the girl who had broken his heart.

"Please Gray, it was a major mistake on my behalf and I didn't think it through. Please just look my way." It was one thing that he barely answered her, but it was nearly painful when he wouldn't even look at her.

"Because of your _mistake_ , I've come to realize the things I was blind to." He began, standing up from his seat on the rock. "Because of you, the things I started to believe in were all lies fabricated by someone else." He looked up to the ceiling of the cave while his voice continued to grow louder. "Because of **you** I dared to embrace feelings lost to me!" Gray turned to face her this time and Juvia was met with his stern face, but she could see how broken he was on the inside through his eyes.

"Because of you...!" He raised his voice one more time, but let it die in his throat before he whispered out: "I thought I could find love again."

Juvia never really heard that last part, but she couldn't let it bother her anyway as this was the moment of truth. Things needed to be settled once and for all, so there was no turning back now since this will decide her course of action according to what Laxus said.

"Do you...Do you like me Gray-sama? The same way I do to you?" Juvia slowly asked as her heart began to beat faster and Gray diverted his gaze so that even though he was facing her, his hair shadowed his eyes.

Several long moments of silence passed between them and it was driving Juvia insane on what his answer would be. She hoped with all her heart that Laxus was wrong, that maybe her Gray-sama was being shy and what has happened had put their relationship on the rocks and it was up to her to fix it. That no matter what, their love would prevail and it was nothing they couldn't handle together and manage with time.

Her heart shattered when he finally answered her.

"No..."


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N:** _Hello everyone, it's me again with the latest chappie and I honestly can't believe that we're almost a hop, skip and a jump away from the last chapter to my first fic. I'm still surprised that I've gotten this far, but I've got to save all the mush and stuff for the last chapter (which is nearly here btw) so for now I give chapter 28. Hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

Chapter 28

She couldn't believe what was happening, no that wasn't right for she didn't want to believe that her constructed world of romance with her Gray-sama was shattering before her. Juvia took time to learn Gray's moods and no matter how much she wished it wasn't true, the ice mage was dead serious and it only served to break her heart even more. The truth was that at some point she knew Gray wasn't returning her feelings and was hoping that if she pushed enough he would actually start to feel something for her, but now she knew that she was simply fooling herself. How could she have been so stupid, he had made deliberate signs that he wasn't interested but she took them as him being awkward at her claims of love for him.

She wanted to cry, it was the only thing she had going for her at this point and yet she couldn't bring herself to sob away the pain in front of Gray. It was only until she felt a droplet of water fall onto her hand did she realize that tears had already sprung from her eyes and wished that her humiliation would end right there. Juvia had every reason to run away from Gray and seek comfort from her close friend in Gajeel, but she wouldn't run rather she would tough it out. The water mage made eye contact with her beloved with tears streaming down her face, noticing how Gray's expression had yet to change but she could see the faint signs of regret in his eyes. Juvia was well aware of the phrase of a person's eyes being the gateway to their souls and it was never more truer than for Gray, for any emotion too strong for him to express was shown through his eyes.

The water mage knew that she brought this upon herself, that she had done something that pushed Gray too far and this was the end result. Pushing was the only thing she had ever done when it concerned the ice mage and now it was her turn to be over whelmed with her back against a corner. Though he finished what they hadn't even started, Juvia wasn't about to let it end like this and if there was a way then she would do everything in her power to save their friendship at least.

"I...I understand..." She said through a shaky breath, even though she really didn't want to.

"Look, I'm..." Gray wanted to apologize, he felt like he had hurt the blue haired woman very deeply but he just couldn't bring himself to say the words out loud.

He too felt hurt, all his life he sealed himself away ever since he lost his parents and Ur to the point where he built his own personality around it and now that he began to feel once again it was just an illusion. He hated to feel like this, he hated to let the things he kept close by toyed with even if unintentionally, but most of all he hated the fact that he was just letting his frustrations out onto the people who were just trying to help or were trying to get him to be happy. His answer was not due to the heat of the moment, in fact it was a clean cut answer the ice mage had been meaning to give Juvia for some time now and he realized that this wasn't the most opportune time to tell her although he realized that a little too late.

"I know what you're wishing to say..." Juvia spoke up in a more even voice, however there was the slight hiccup as she was holding back a quiet sob.

"I just don't understand...why me?" Gray never needed to be clued in on Juvia's constant flirting, he just questioned why she'd waste her time on him. "There are definitely better people out there for you."

"It was love at first sight for me," Juvia began, trying her best to hold back any more tears from escaping. "I felt drawn to you when we first met as enemies and as time went on I learned to love not only you, but all of Fairy Tail as well. The more I was around you, the deeper I fell in love because it was who you are that made me keep chasing you."

"But why didn't you just give up every time I shot you down?" Gray pushed the question since a lot of things could've been prevented if she just gave up.

"Because you were the person who gave me the beautiful sky and the sun back." Juvia answered as a sad smile spread across her face, this time taking a seat on a nearby rock formation. "I've always been plagued by negative comments since I couldn't control my powers very well, but even though I was your enemy you chose to save my life. That was the kindest thing anyone had ever done for me without having an ulterior motive."

"Anyone would've done that for you; everything you've felt for me would most likely go for the person who saved you. It would've been the same even if Natsu was the one who saved you and asked you to join Fairy Tail." Gray awkwardly said as the intense moment was beginning to cool down, but there were still fragments of anger lingering about within him.

"If Natsu-san was the one to have saved me, I would be grateful to him but I believe that I would've still been drawn to you instead." She replied and Gray remained silent as there weren't any words he could come up with to respond to her, more so for the fact that he felt like screaming at the top of his lungs on why he couldn't understand.

"It...It was actually my dream that one day, you and I would be together and start our very own life as one." She voiced out, a very personal secret even though she expressed it more often than not to the world, but it only served to let her tears fall as reality was much harsher than her dreams.

The ice mage only looked on as he saw the sparklette of her tears fall onto the rocky floor and splatter in all directions, turning with a scoff as parts of him began to turn their anger towards him; both his brain and his damn heart.

"It's ironic how I found a way to destroy two people's dreams in the same place." Gray spoke up, his back to her although Juvia could hear the slightest tones of self-loathing come from his voice. "Lyon dreamed to surpass our master once he finished his training and I took that away from him, this spot was the exact same place he had witnessed the death of his dream seven years ago."

Lyon had forgiven Gray and wanted to make up for lost time chasing an ambition that wouldn't come true, to which he didn't mind although a lamenting thought stayed with him. Gray could never forget the pain filled words Lyon yelled at him when he discovered that Ur had died and though Ur was the one to finally destroy Deliora when the Moon Drip was complete, the ice mage felt a sense of responsibility when he noticed the crushed look on Lyon's face. Gray knew how much it meant to him and though he and his guildmates were the ones to stop him, the dark haired young man felt that it weighed entirely on him.

"Now here I am destroying yours."

The tension was too thick for words, so silence was a welcomed friend between them and Juvia couldn't help but feel guilty of how much pain she kept causing to her beloved, _former_ beloved. The water mage was now aware that this place held a deep meaning for the ice mage and she would've never had guessed that it was the same for Lyon, however she could tell that the other ice mage didn't have as a high regard for it as Gray did.

Where did she go wrong? She had always loved him in the way she usually expressed it, but it dawned on her that it was out of tremendous fear in which things took a turn. The moment she decided to use magic to win his favor was the moment in which her harmless love became toxic and began to cause problems. She had to tell him the truth, things would need time to mend between them but so long as he learned her reasoning than she'd be satisfied knowing that Gray didn't think of her as a selfish woman.

"Gray-sam-...san, I want t-to tell you why I did this." Juvia said in an apologetic tone hoping that he'd at least hear her out.

"Fine, then tell me." Gray replied and wished he hadn't said that as harshly as he did, since he could see how Juvia recoiled at his tone.

"I did this so I wouldn't regret it." Juvia began, but Gray hadn't even bothered to lift his face to look at her so she decided to continue at least knowing he was listening to her. "I wished to be with you ever since what I beared witness to, I couldn't go on if you died and you never truly discovered how much you mean to me."

Gray heard how her voice was becoming shaky again and was trying to figure out what she meant by his death until he realized what she was talking about. So it seemed that he wasn't the only one to think that moment of deja vu was too real not to have happened and it unnerved him to think that it must be the same thing for Lyon and Meredy. Was the universe making him out to be a burden or something? The ice mage wanted to laugh at how bad things got for him over the years and a part of him felt like there was still more to come.

"I just didn't want us to end on bad terms Gray-san." Juvia added although it still felt awkward to place a different honorific to his name. "I know I was acting selfish, but could you help it if you witnessed the person you loved disappear from the world you shared together for good and leave you all alone?" It was a rhetorical questioned she voiced out to make her point, but she didn't expect Gray to give a short solemn chuckle to her words.

"I know what you mean all too well." Gray replied as a heavy atmosphere descended upon them and Juvia knew that she had struck a very touchy subject about the ice mage.

Juvia sat there nervously as she couldn't stop thinking that she was making the situation even worse with the more she spoke. She had said everything she wanted and it was all up to Gray to figure out what he wanted to do after, at this point it was better for her to cut her losses and wait for what tomorrow would bring. Juvia stood and slowly approached the ice mage, tentatively placing her hand on his shoulder; feeling him stiffen beneath her touch.

"I'm truly sorry Gray-san, please just...take my words into consideration." The water mage couldn't really bear to see the ice mage like that and promptly removed her hand and hastily left the cave, allowing the rest of her tears to fall as she left.

 _"Being selfish never ends well."_ Gray solemnly thought letting his own tears cascade down his face, remembering his parents and Ur in the damp cave; the same one that is the final resting place of his former master and the darkness she sealed away for him.

* * *

The shining rays of sunrise blanketed the plains of an open field as Lucy awoke from her slumber, unsurprised by the dragon slayer who decided to hold his head out the window in order to make sure last night's meal didn't end up all over them. She rubbed her eyes to sway away her drowsiness and looked onto the rest of the train car her team, along with Mira's, were riding in to find that she wasn't the only one awake. Cana stared out the train window in a sage like manner obviously lost in thought about something the blonde couldn't even begin to guess about, Erza who sat in front of her looked tense if the constant tapping of her boot were any indication of it and finally there was Lisanna who was trying to remove her brother's large arm off her shoulder.

Lucy knew that they were all competing for Gray, but it surprised her that both teams had worked together in order to secure a train for all of them to head out for Hargeon. Natsu unsurprisingly wanted to travel by foot, but was outvoted as it would only serve to delay them by days so Erza made sure he was placed inside the car unconscious. Though for that reason, Wendy had let casting Troya on the pink haired slayer slip her mind and accidentally left Natsu to deal with his motion sickness. As for the little dragon slayer, she had decided to sit at a booth by herself alongside Carla with Happy joining them so it wasn't cramped in Team E.L.L.N.'s booth; Lucy and Levy on one side with Erza and Natsu in front of them while the slayer chose the window seat for obvious reasons.

The celestial mage watched as the rest of her rivals/guildmates began to stir awake and knew that once they arrived at Hargeon the momentary truce would end. She looked over the train once more and noticed that Cana seemed troubled as she moved into a vacant booth, while Lucy decided that she could make use of the truce to talk to her for a bit. The blonde hardly got the chance to speak to some of her guildmates ever since they joined opposing teams for Gray, but right now they were just guildmates instead of rivals. Lucy carefully made her way out of the booth, making sure not to disturb Levy who had been sleeping rather soundly for a while and sat herself down opposite of the brunette.

"Crazy how things turn out, huh Cana?" Lucy asked to strike up a conversation and the brunette turned to her with a half smile, however there was no trace of her usual mirth in it.

"Never a dull day in Fairy Tail, that's for sure." The card mage replied and downcasted her gaze, picking at her fuzzy purse to occupy her idle hands.

"What's wrong Cana? You've been pretty down in the dumps lately." The blonde was willing to listen to the card mage's problems like she had done before, so she waited patiently for Cana to reply to her.

"To tell you the truth, I've been second guessing myself on chasing after Gray." Cana admitted as she found a bit of solace in the celestial mage, a friend she can come to tell her problems to when Gray wasn't around. "There's so much I've done to forget about him in the past that it's made it difficult for me in the present."

"You've known Gray for a pretty long time, so the only one worrying about anything should be me. I mean that out of everyone in this train car, I'm the one who doesn't know a whole lot about Gray and I can't count Wendy since she isn't interested in him the way we are." Lucy replied as she tried to reassure the card mage, giving her some hope in all this even if she was down playing herself at the moment.

"Well me and him don't share a very bright history with each other, sure we care for each other but there's a lot of things that are hard pressed between us." Cana said as Lucy knew all too well what she was talking about, but decided to play like she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Wouldn't that be how he is with Natsu? They do go for each other's throats more often than not, but in the end they really care for each other." Lucy offered and it surprised her when the brunette gave a short laugh at her statement.

"I wish... things would be a lot easier if it were that way. No...we had something that ran deep within both of us, but we were too young and too stupid to think clearly enough against our own selfish reasons." The blonde could tell that Cana was somewhat hurting from what she had just said and understood that her past with the ice mage was pretty twisted.

"Well dozens of authors and people do say that love isn't easy." Sure it was a common phrase usually to add some form of light hearted wording through a bit of a tense situation from what she's read, but Lucy could tell it was much more for Cana.

"No, it really isn't and that's why some people do stupid things in the name of it." Cana added as she looked back at how Gray merely did it because he loved her. "Main reason why I am second guessing myself is because I'm unsure whether or not I could let either of us relive our past."

"I know it'll be hard for you, but would you mind explaining what actually happened between you two?" It wasn't necessarily required since she could get the gist of it from her unreasoned eavesdropping, but it would be nice to hear her side of the story.

"You've been there for me before, so why not? It helps to talk things out with others." Cana said as she looked back on the years passed and her smile slowly fell before she spoke again. "Gray and I were the only kids in the guild at the time so naturally we grew close, years passed and things between us got deeper and soon enough we gave each other our firsts." She recounted as they were inseparable back then, but those were happier times between them.

"When we were fourteen, Gray wanted to make us official and I swear that I was the happiest girl around when I heard it. It was the greatest feeling I've ever felt, but it didn't last long before the fear crept its way into me." A part of Cana couldn't believe she was so terrified of the things Gray was always striving to overcome; he saw a problem that could be fix with a little work and there wasn't a thing in the world that'd make him turn a blind eye to his guildmate. "I was afraid that if we went further down that path, that at some point we'd have a falling out and could never face each other again. I couldn't live without him there supporting me, so I used my fears as a final statement as to why we can't be together."

"There's no way Gray could agree to something like that, he's more of a fighter when it comes to things he knows to be right." From what Lucy could already tell about the ice mage is that he'd do anything to help or even repair a bad situation at nearly any cost.

"I believed that too, until I told him that and the only thing he did was agree." A sad smile spread across her face, usually she'd feel like crying although now she knew that the ice mage did it for a more heart clenching reason. "I never thought he'd agree to something so unbelievable and just like that our own happiness vanished with a mutual understanding, but we both left as losers and I was nothing more than an idiot."

"Come on Cana, it couldn't have ended on such a bad note, right?" Lucy asked reassuringly as she searched for something to help Cana wipe her eyes with as the brunette became a little watery in the eyes.

"Are you kidding? I tried everything I could to forget about Gray; built up a number of random crushes on guys, dated a number of them in the city and elsewhere." The card mage used the handkerchief the blonde gave her to wipe her eyes, but the memory of just doing those acts made her feel dirty as she looked back on them. "But no matter what I did, I always compared them to Gray and it was the worse thing since none of them could compare to him."

"I guess it was hard for you, but weren't you the one claiming to never date any of the men in Fairy Tail?" Came the voice of a new comer as Erza stood at their booth and both woman were surprised to see her, even if they shared the same car.

"Erza? How long have you been there?" Cana asked as she hadn't expected to see the requip mage, let alone talk to her for the trip.

"I barely made my way here, but I caught onto the last few bits of your conversation." Erza said as she sat herself down next the her blonde teammate, making herself a part of their conversation now. "I believed this would be a good opportunity to speak to some of my fellow guildmates I haven't had the chance to speak without the hostility of rival teams."

"The more the merrier?" Lucy questioned, but Cana reluctantly gave her approval and allowed the redhead to sit with them. "But Erza does have a point Cana, one of the first few things you said when I first got to Fairy Tail was that you didn't date any of them there. Do you have a reason why?"

"I would've thought that was obvious." Cana said jokingly to lighten her mood, but it failed as it was blatantly clear that she did that for Gray too. "I couldn't bring myself to date someone that we shared a guild with, not to mention that he was the only person I actually loved." She said the last bit more to herself after explaining herself, but it satisfied the two women in front of her.

Lucy was moved that after what happened to them, Cana couldn't bring herself to hurt Gray in any way although she went on a dating spree to forget about him. The card mage was a kind hearted woman and the blonde knew that there was something more about Gray that kept Cana from actually going pretty far with someone else. Erza spoke on about how she didn't understand why the brunette didn't settle this manner years ago and Cana had responded that she couldn't get close to Gray at all. He had changed from the young teen she fell in love with, but in a way that forced the card mage to shrink away from ever revealing her mistake.

"Gray does have a bit of an effect like that, but I believed that was just him growing up in a certain way." Erza inquired as the behavior he displayed was different now that she looked back on it and Cana gave a small 'hmph' to her claim.

"Sorry Erza, but that's what I meant when we both left as losers. I could never find someone like Gray and Gray..." Erza and Lucy looked on as the brunette seemed troubled in trying to explain it, but she soon found the words to keep going. "Well, it was my fault that he's like that now. In my fear of the future, I overlooked his past and realized why he agreed so easily to what I said."

"Oh right, his master" Lucy deduced and Erza had caught onto what the blonde meant as Gray did have trouble with certain things after her passing.

"Yeah, Gray had his own fear of selfishness. All he wanted to do was keep me happy, even if it meant getting his heart broken." Cana added as Lucy had guessed it right on the money and the brunette could only assume that Gray must have told them at some point. "After that, Gray grew colder and distant from people which led him to become the person you got to meet Lucy."

"Gray did strike me as a different person compared to everyone else, like he wasn't as jovial as everyone tended to be, plus he tried to keep to himself most of the time too." Lucy commented remembering the days in which Gray wasn't with them out on a mission.

"Yeah he was, but I was actually happy to see him acting like his old self again." Cana interjected, happy to see Gray be like the boy she became attached to after so long that it gave her a nostalgic feeling deep within her heart.

"Even so, don't lose heart so easily Cana." The requip mage spoke up as she crossed her arms, the card mage looking at her quizzically. "Taking a page from Natsu's book on life; it's a much more fulfilling feeling when you defeat your opponent at their best."

"She's right, don't give up just yet. You've got to prove that there is still more in you that won't back down to one last fight." Lucy chimed in as a smile spread across the brunette's face as her spirits were slowly being lifted.

"You two should have left me to be a downer." Cana replied, but she held a warm smile on her face as she looked at them. "Now you've got to face the daughter of Gildarts Clive, ace of Fairy Tail: Cana Alberona."

"That's the spirit!" Lucy cheered and for the first time in what felt like a long time they all felt like their old selves again.

The cheerful atmosphere was welcomed by everyone in the cabin and so the moods were much higher now than they were in the beginning. Cana had gone back to her group, but it seemed that Lisanna had taken Erza's seat to comfort the suffering dragon slayer while the redhead decided to wake the little dragon slayer to fix the problem. Lucy and the now awake Levy looked on at the scene between the animal soul mage and the dragon slayer, finding it adorable in a sense of what was happening. They had both thought back at what Happy said about them and both the petite blunette and blonde thought that it wouldn't be so bad if Natsu moved onto her if things didn't go so well with Gray.

Though the air was cheerful, it didn't necessarily mean that they all would start to talk to each other again since Mira and Erza were more than openly glaring daggers at each other. Sure the former rivals weren't going to talk to each other, but that didn't stop the others in doing so and Wendy had joined in to help bridge both teams together if only a little bit. Luckily for all of them, the young dragon slayer first did her duty in casting Troya on Natsu as his groaning was becoming a little bothersome and they wanted to take him out of his misery.

The conversations were light hearted at best and the time on board the train flew by them without their knowing as the hours passed seamlessly with each conversation that was started. By the time the train had finally arrived at Hargeon, it became a race for the harbor with Natsu leading the charge as he was more than happy to get off the death trap on rails. Of course when he finally made it, waiting for the others to arrive, he had forgotten that they needed to find a way across the vast ocean to the island. As breathless as they were, Teams Mira and E.L.L.N. faced each other in a comradely way with Wendy merely looking on at the two teams along with the Exceeds.

"Well this is where our truce ends, wouldn't you say Erza?" Mira asked kindly, in the sense that her challenging message was kept hidden beneath her smile very well.

"Yes you are right Mira, now we are back to being rivals." The redhead replied in turn, catching on to the meaning behind her words with an equal amount of challenge.

"I just hope you guys find yourselves a boat, ours is waiting for us further down the harbor." The white haired demoness added, waving good bye towards her childhood rival. "Good luck to all of you, hopefully we see by tomorrow!" She called out as her team continued to walk away from them and Natsu looked slightly unnerved after her claim.

"She's right Erza, how are we going to get to Galuna without a boat?" Lucy hadn't realized that Mira was a master planner from her years of being a matchmaker, so it was obvious that she'd come up with a way to get her team a boat to the island.

"We can always swim there since it's not like we really need one of those floating torture chambers, right?" Natsu offered and they looked at him incredulously, the same look he got when he offered to go walking instead of taking the train. "Or maybe a boat's just fine too."

"In any case, we don't have a means to cross the ocean while they already have a head start on us." Levy voiced as she sat down on a few crates, somewhat miffed that they were losing their lead even if both teams arrived at the port town at the same time.

"No need to worry about that, I had a feeling that Mira would try to contact someone ahead of time so I did that as well." Erza had motioned them to follow her as they walked down the other half of the dock to a somewhat shady looking port.

"I don't know about this Erza, this looks like a pretty rough neighborhood." Lucy voiced her concerns as more than once she was stared at with lustful eyes, luckily Natsu was around to make sure no one tried anything to her or the equally concerned Levy and Wendy.

"It's okay Lucy we're already here, they should be arriving any minute now if they followed my instructions carefully." The requip mage replied as she looked out at the vast sea and Levy could only imagine who the woman got to take them to Galuna.

The petite blunette looked across the horizon too, nothing looking remotely close to an object until a small dot appeared. The dot grew bigger as it came closer to the coast and Levy could make out the shape of a ship as it was no more than a few hundred yards out although she grew worried again. It was mainly due to the tattered black sail embolized with a massive skull and crossbones flapping proudly with the sea air. The blunette could not believe Erza had managed to get pirates to ferry them all the way to Galuna, she didn't even want to question the how of all of it as she was dumbstruck with the main idea of the red head knowing pirates.

"Avast ye wizards! We've come by the request from Big Sister." The captain, who Levy presumed as sounding like a stereotypical plunderer of the sea, shouted as he docked and had the boarding plank come down onto the dock. "The crew and I will get ye passage to the island of Galuna."

"Yo pirate dude, it's been awhile! How's business been for ya?" Natsu asked as he tried to inch away from the ship, but Erza had caught him by the collar before he managed to get away.

"Tis not well, me sea legless boy-o. These waters hold no treasure to plunder, all there is are those scurvy dogs of the magic council." The captain replied as they all boarded, Natsu the most resistant until Erza unceremoniously carried him on. "What this old seadog would give to live back in me youth."

"Piracy is not a long term job in this day and age Captain, I've told you before to turn over a new leaf and set yourselves up as security detail for ships." Erza said as Wendy got to work casting Troya on Natsu, but it took a little more time as she had to cast it on herself first since the effects of motion sickness were starting to get to her.

"Aye Big Sister, we'll come around to it." He replied getting back to the helm and getting the ship back out towards the sea. "Will the little lass with hair as blue as the sky be alright? She seems to look as fearful as deadman staring straight at Davy Jones's locker."

"Oh don't mind her, I'll speak to her." The requip mage replied as she walked down towards the deck to confront a worried stricken Levy. "Are you doing okay Levy, you seem scared."

"Well I'm not sure if you noticed Erza but we're on a pirate ship, run by real pirates!" The petite girl could only describe the crew just as she had imagined them, although she was caught off guard when the ship wasn't as dirty as she thought it'd be.

"I know that, plus there is no real reason to be afraid Levy. They are harmless and would jump ship before laying a hand on anyone I know." Erza tried to reassure her, but was met with an interesting look of curiosity from Levy.

"Now that you mention it, I am curious why both the captain and his crew refer to you as Big Sister?" Honestly, Levy never thought Erza would be called that by people like pirates.

"I met them several years ago when I went after Lucy, Natsu, Gray and Happy after taking an unauthorized S-class mission and I required a means to get to Galuna. I defeated them all into submission to acquire their loyalty so they'd even traverse the waters to the island and somehow they all admired my strength to where they referred to me as their elder sister." Erza explained as Levy could find it rather plausible of such an event actually happening. "Although I'm positive that I'm younger than all of them."

"Now that you've explained it, there's no more doubt in me that says you don't have everything under control." The solid script mage admitted as Erza gave an understanding nod before walking off to see if the ship was at top condition.

Levy had decided to stick to Lucy for personal reasons and the blonde had explained that the crew were rather nice people after the redhead came around and showed her some of their talents. The blunette was rather impressed at some the things that they had been able to do and learned that most of them got stuck in the business when things started to turn for the worst in their lives. She had also learned that after they had managed to establish relations with the residents of the island, they managed to find a decent amount of work before the small port town was finally made on the island.

Wendy watched silently as everyone was enjoying themselves on the ship, even if Levy still had her reserves while Natsu had made his way up to the Crow's Nest to see the view. She on the other hand was busy trying to figure out a very confusing ordeal she had back at the guild as it still boggled her mind. Sure she had a close relationship with Gray on a sibling like level, but she never outwardly say such a thing due to sheer embarrassment and didn't know how he'd take it. So when Lucy had said that, she was momentarily dazed that the blonde knew how she viewed Gray until her memories flooded back in of her latest interactions with the ice mage and tried to follow up the conversation.

"Come now child, what bothers you? You've had that expression ever since we've left the guild." Carla finally said as Happy had gone off to join Natsu up in the nest.

"Sorry Carla, it's just that I can't recall why I ever felt the courage to tell Gray that I wanted him as an older brother." The twin tailed girl replied as it just randomly happened and it spiraled ever since she met Carrie and went to her cafe.

"I don't believe I can be much assistance there as neither I have any knowledge where you gained the bravery to stand up to Carrie and claim that stripping young man as an older sibling." The white furred cat still couldn't believe what had transpired that day, but she still had her own worries to focus on.

Her clairvoyance had shown her that whatever Gray was about to do to everyone was at this point in time, but she couldn't understand what exactly is supposed to happen. She was unsure if she should warn the others or allow it to happen as Wendy and Happy were supporting him in his actions. It worried her that it wasn't so very clear to show whether it was out of mal intent or not as the young man had a face filled with regret to consider it as a ploy against his friends. All Carla knew was that she needed to find a stand in all this before it was too late and she could only assume that she had a few hours left before it happened.

"I guess it just happened on the spur of the moment, after all Carrie was being pretty forceful and all over Gray just when I was around." Wendy said as she looked out onto the ocean, the sun growing closer to being hidden by the horizon as the island was becoming visible now.

"Well in any case, if you believe in the ice mage I can only assume that there is no need to worry about this and just accept what has happened." Carla replied as she crossed her arms and made her way up onto the rail, watching as the lights of the port town came into view now.

For obvious reasons, the pirates had docked in a special area where they wouldn't draw any attention from the small town and placed down the boarding plank once the coast was clear. Oddly enough Levy's short lived fear subsided once they got off the pirate ship as its crew and captain held tears in their eyes seeing their Big Sister get off as well and wished her to stay a little longer. Natsu of course was the first to run as fast as he could to the more crowded area of the dock before he was forced to relive another minute on the boat, fearing that Troya would wear off soon while still out at sea. Lucy, Happy, Carla and Wendy went after him leaving Levy with Erza and the pirates, who were waiting on her answer.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, but this is my stop. I need to rescue someone dear to me before he's taken away again." Erza said as she looked off in the direction in which the group went off to before turning her attention back towards the captain.

"Aye, we understand and will await for ye here, tomorrow at dusk." The aged captain replied with Erza giving him a nod before he got his ship back out to see with a few crew members still calling out to her.

"There sure are an odd bunch." Levy spoke up as they began to walk after the others and the requip mage simply smiled at her claim.

"You never know what type of people you'll meet on an adventure." Erza replied picking up the pace a bit, the sensation that Mira might catch leads to a certain village was growing the more they dilly dallied. "In any case we have to hurry to the only village that was established on the island before this port town."

"How is the village here, what's it like?" Levy asked as she spotted a group of multi haired colored individuals sitting near the entrance of the town that laid before the forested area of the island.

"My team and I had quite a confrontation a few years ago on this island and when it was all over, we became quite good friends with a village of demons living here." Erza answered her as the blunette paled at the sound of demons actually existing in their world and really living amongst humans." But don't worry, they are a very kind people and a few of the demonesses got attached to our Gray during the time we stayed, so I'm sure they can provide us with some information." The requip mage tried to reassure her as she noticed how tensed she became at the claim of a demon village.

"You've all made a number of friends out on your jobs I see." Levy joked once they finally grouped up the others, _"But I couldn't believe that even a demoness would fall for Gray! Just how much time did Gray spend with Loke?!"_ A small mental image of the flirty spirit formed in her head and she couldn't begin to figure out what the strawberry blonde taught the ice mage.

"I guess we have, but do you guys have any idea where we're supposed to go now?" Natsu asked since Lucy had told him that they had to wait for Erza to come up with a plan on figuring out if Gray was here or not.

"We'll head for the village Bobo lives in and ask around if they've seen Gray come through there. I'm sure the village chief can be helpful to our cause, but we must hurry since Mira will no doubt be searching for it soon enough." The redhead informed the team and they all set out into the forest, using Natsu's keen sense of smell to locate the scents of the chief, Bobo or any of the other demons they came across.

* * *

To say Levy was intimidated was somewhat of an understatement, since she stood in front of a large wooden gate which was supported by steel beams that reinforced it as she could see two guards standing at the top looking down at them. She was pretty nervous as they wielded magic guns, however it faded away as friendly smiles grew across their faces at recognizing Natsu, Lucy and Erza and began shouting orders before the large wooden gate opened up before them. The pink haired slayer took the initiative and made his way inside as the rest of the group followed him before they were greeted by a familiar demon standing alongside his long sideburn father wielding his staff.

"Isn't this a sight to see, it's been years since you Fairy Tailers have come back to the island." Bobo's friendly state was rather calming to Levy even if he was in his true demon form, but the older looking one was making her uncomfortable as he stared intently at Natsu and Lucy.

"Yes it is nice to have you back here, hopefully this time you will destroy the moon!" Moka exclaimed as the villagers began to gather around, laughing at their chief's wish of destroying the moon even though their curse had been lifted.

"Yeah we'll get back to you on that." Lucy commented although Natsu pumped his fist while he held a victorious grin.

"Don't worry about it old man! Once Happy manages to get me there, that moon's gonna be toast!" Of course he was still willing to destroy the moon just as he had seven years ago, but aside from himself and Moka, everyone was sure that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"Aye, sir!" Happy exclaimed only fueling Natsu's motivation, but he too understood that there was no way he'd be able to fly high enough to land his best friend on it's surface so he'd just support him verbally.

"Yes well that will take some time, we here on serious business." Erza began and regained the attention of the chief, Bobo and the rest of the village. "We're wondering if you have any information on whether or not Gray's been through here or is even on the island."

"You guys are looking for Gray?" Came the sweet tone from within the crowd as one demoness was excusing herself through her fellow villagers, her blue skin and darker colored hair making her stand out aside from her more profound demonic features.

"Ah Lulu, I guess you would know something." Bobo spoke up as their human and cat guests looked at him, "Well you see, I went into town with my father for supplies for most of the day well into the night so I wasn't able to notice anyone arriving."

"It is understandable, but what about Gray? How was he when you saw him Lulu?" Lucy asked as the blue skinned demoness thought back at yesterday before she replied to the blonde.

"Well he was fine really, but he came along with a green haired woman. By the way, she was a little bit fearful of us even though we welcomed her with open arms." Lulu replied and Levy could no doubt see that happening, even she was little surprised by them only holding back her nervousness by the mere fact that her friends were very friendly with them. "Me and the other girls were pretty happy to know that he actually remembered the Demon-Wiggle-Waggle." She added and a couple of giggles came from the crowd of villagers.

 _"I mean seriously! What did Loke teach him to make demonesses act like that!?"_ Levy mentally questioned as the best representation of a successful flirt was Loke and she doubted even he would be able to make any headway with a demon.

"Much as I wished to see him do that again, is he still around the village somewhere with the green haired woman?" Erza asked her, but Lulu shook her head in response pointing up the mountain towards the Moon Temple.

"I'm afraid not, when sundown came they both left for the temple together and we haven't seen him since." The blue skinned demoness was rather curious as to why Gray was with her than with his team and the thought of those two being together didn't cross her mind, since Lulu didn't believe they were a couple based on how they acted around each other.

"Then that's where we'll go, if anything he couldn't get your help since none of you can enter the temple." Erza concluded, but a short giggle diverted her attention towards the main gate whereupon she set her glare towards her rival and her team.

"Thank you Erza, so it seems you've already given us Gray's location." Mira began, turning to walk off towards the mountain top. "But don't worry, I'll still let you be with him every now and then since you are his friend."

"I won't let you She-devil!" Erza charged forward with all her might as Mira simply side stepped her. "I won't let you lay a single finger on Gray!"

"Hey!" Lulu spoke out representing all the demonesses as Erza had made it sound like an insult of what they are, however Lucy calmed them down.

"She doesn't mean it offensively, it's more of basic fact." The blonde began, but the villagers were confused by her claim. "She's actually a takeover mage specializing in Satan Soul, so Erza was merely pointing out her takeover form. My guess is that she usually fought her in that form."

"Satan Soul you say?" Moka appeared to be in deep thought and both Lucy and Levy were curious to know if the old chief knew about that magic type.

"Do you know of this magic?" Levy asked as the long sideburned old man looked up at her and nodded his head.

"I have, but it is a tale for another time. For now you're leader is calling out to you at the moment." Moka replied as he extended a claw towards Erza as she was busy grappling with Mira, their heads butted against each other with stern and unwavering looks on their faces.

"The rest of you get to the Temple, I will meet you there later!" Erza said as Mira was proving that she still hadn't lost her touch when it came to fighting, struggling to push the white haired barmaid back. "Go! I'll hold Mira here!"

"Let's get going then! C'mon Happy time to hit the skies!" Natsu hollered as Happy picked him up by his vest and flew off, quickly followed by Wendy and Carla as they flew off after them. Leaving Lucy and Levy to run into the forest towards the mountain, of course without missing Lucy's complaints of having to run all the way up there.

"You guys better start running for it, I'll follow Natsu by air." Lisanna said to Cana and Elfman as she transformed her arms into wings, quickly chasing after the pink haired slayer while the other two made a mad dash after the blue and blonde duo.

Though they all wanted to keep things civil, in the end it went down to Natsu's way of handling things as both teams began to clash against each other when they encountered a rival. Natsu couldn't bring himself to try and hurt Lisanna so he made it a simple race against her, becoming giddy every time she managed to get ahead of him and Happy, while Carla tried to keep up with them even though Wendy was asking her not to push herself too hard. Down on the ground Elfman took on his were-tiger form to increase his speed as he allowed Cana to ride on his back, but soon enough they too had to face off against the opposing team. They all understood that it was simply ridiculous to actually fight so hard over one guy, but they all changed the tune of it into a spar between guildmates and the winners get Gray. It made it an easier pill to swallow instead of fighting their own friends, their own family over a trivial subject of liking the same person.

So it turned into an interesting square off as Lucy faced off against Elfman and Levy took on Cana, each dodging the others attacks remarkably although Levy had a little more difficulty as she provided support and was usually guarded by someone. Elfman on the other hand was surprised the blonde was keeping him at bay when they crossed paths, utilizing her spirits effectively with his beast forms and was proving her defense was as solid as can be. If he encountered her with one of his stronger beasts, she'd summon her bull spirit to stop him in his tracks, when it came to faster beasts then it became target practice as he dodged her archer spirit's precise arrows. It really amazed him that they were nearly up over half the mountain and he had yet to pass the blonde, even he was beginning to believe that Lucy's tactics were manly in making sure he couldn't get past her.

Cana on the other hand was proving to be a challenge for Levy as her card magic gave her an array of fighting abilities from range, while the blunette was positive she didn't want to get too close to the brunette to fight hand-to-hand. Creating defenses and attacking from range was Levy's best option, however she couldn't use her more powerful ranged spell of fire in the forest lest she wanted to set the area around her ablaze so she opted out by throwing other useful items she could think of. The brunette was rather impressed that Levy was keeping up with her for this long as it is, sure she was a support partner in the S-class exams, but she didn't believe she could hold her own for the duration they were going at it. Most of the spells she was using were concussive attacks that would render Levy a little bit dizzy and unable to continue, but Cana had to admit that her solid script magic was holding pretty strong when blocking her cards and yet she had to end their little battle since she could see the steps leading towards the temple's entrance already.

"Sorry girl, but this'll sting a little." Cana said aloud as she threw a lightning card at Levy, but the blunette quickly recognized it and began writing her magic out in the air.

"Solid Script: Rubber!" A blob of pinkish goo appeared before Levy swallowing the card whole as sparks reverberated around it, but the goo held it's form and the lightning faded away as Cana hadn't seen anything like that happen before.

"What was that?" The brunette couldn't help but ask as the pink blob took the brunt of the attack and was unfazed by it, given that it wasn't that powerful but it would still give a nasty feeling if a person was hit by it.

"Gray put it to a test in the past knowing that rubber cannot conduct electricity, so that attack won't be able to do anything." Levy replied remembering when the ice mage asked her to create some rubber to cover his hands in so he could "help" Laxus pull out a couple shards of glass from his back when he crashed through a window; he didn't volunteer to do it, more like no one else would do it for the same reason that he'd shock you when he felt a sudden sensation of pain.

"He tested something like that?" Cana knew Gray read plenty of books in his spare time, heck she's seen how many he tended to buy a few years back, but she didn't realize that he'd picked up a few things and try them out to see the extent of what they could do. _"No doubt he'd probably got Laxus to help test it at some point."_

"It was a bit of well known knowledge that it couldn't, but Gray was the one to show me how it looks in practice." The blunette was referring to that day, watching as sparks flew out of Laxus' body as they connected to Gray's hands, but he didn't flinch at all and continued to pry out pieces of glass.

"Obviously, but I'm more concerned that he'd try doing something that could get him electrocuted." Cana replied and before Levy could add anything else, Natsu unceremoniously landed on his rear end as an exhausted Happy landed on his head breathing heavily. Which was later followed by an equally tired Lisanna as she dropped her bird form and stood bent over with her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath.

"We win Lisanna, Happy and I got first place." Natsu cheered as Happy rolled into his arms while Lisanna was still trying to catch her breath and Levy created some water for her to drink seeing as the young Strauss looked like she really needed it.

"Yeah, but I had you beat for most of the race." Lisanna finally replied once she caught her breath as their "race" went from a straight line into a crazy flurry of banks, dives, loops and barrel rolls before reaching the entrance of the temple. "Besides, Happy deserves a little more praise for being able to keep up with me every time he used his max speed." She said, patting the cat's blue fur as he smiled tiredly up at her.

"Thanks Lisanna." He replied before being placed back on Natsu's head and getting a chance to rest, to which Natsu wasn't against for his little buddy really did a good job and could see the figures of Carla and Wendy making their way towards them.

"Honestly, how can you be so reckless Happy? You knew that you were pushing yourself after using your max speed for a fourth time." Carla reprimanded once she landed with Wendy, but in a more concerned way instead of her usual tone when he was goofing off.

"Sorry Carla I won't to something like that again, but I still won though." Happy voiced out as a small grin spread across his face and Carla let out a sigh before she too gave off a smile.

"Well it looks like most of us are here, we're just waiting for Lucy-san, Elfman-san, Mira-san and Erza-san now." Wendy said as the group looked off into the forest to see who'd come first since the last person on each team would signify victory once they arrived.

It wasn't long before the sound of something bushling in the leaves was heard and before anyone knew it, three figure emerged from the trees as they soared through the air and everyone looked on at them. Lucy was being carried princess style by Loke as he had a winning smile on his face through his jump and right beside him was Elfman's were-tiger form as he was busy focused on trying to beat the strawberry blonde that he failed to notice the branch sticking out before he collided with it face first. The suited spirit gracefully landed in front of the group while the big tiger man landed on his back, clutching at his nose in pain before dropping his transformation so Lisanna could see the damage.

"So it seems that the lion is in fact superior to the tiger, Elfman." Loke said proudly as he let go of Lucy, smiling gleefully at the larger man's defeat as the other merely pouted that his beast form couldn't beat the spirit.

"It's not manly to boast like that Loke." The large Strauss said as Loke merely laughed at his claim, giving small apologies towards the muscular man as Levy handed a little bit of ice she created to put on his nose.

"C'mon big guy, you know I don't mean it. It's just a little joke." The strawberry blonde straightened himself before turning around to look at the others. "Alright so the gang's all here, but where are Mira and Erza?"

"Turn around and you'll see them." Cana replied as the spirit turned and watched as two streaks of magical aura clashed between each other as they rose into the sky, the sounds of battle being heard pretty clearly given the distance they stood from the streaks.

The group watched as a dark streak continuously went for harsh strikes against the lighter streak and they all could've sworn that they could see the air reverberate once they crashed into each other. The force behind each blow was incredible and it was surprising to say the least that this could've been an everyday thing if Mira had not changed her ways and still fought with Erza, but it didn't help boost anyone's confidence as they continuously fought each other in a dazzling display of light and power all across the island before it turned into a single stream of light spiralling between light and dark heading straight for them.

"Everyone move!" Loke commanded as the teams quickly dispersed from the entrance as the stream of light crashed at the foot of the stairs before bouncing up and into the temple with everyone running right after them. It took some time before the dust settled and once they did they watched as their leaders laid breathless on the floor each facing opposing directions with their feet being the only part of them facing each other.

"I beat you Tin Can, I got inside the temple first." Mira said exasperated, her Satan Soul form damaged severely as a few parts of her claws were broken and bits of her outfit were shredded with only minor wounds on her person, surprisingly for the extent of battle the two were doing.

"Not on your life you balloon chested floozy." Erza retorted as it was the first time in a long time that the group had ever heard Erza use insults on someone, but even she was exhausted from going all out against her old rival and her state could prove it. Much of her Ice Fairy armor was shattered and would take time to repair, the one armor set she was waiting to show Gray one day that would match the blade he gave her for Christmas which she only used for the last attack before they grappled each other into the state they were both in now. "My back hit the floor before you did and you know it."

"If that's the case then my tail hit the floor at the same time and I've got the cuts to prove it." Mira shot back as they both struggled to get to their feet, but in all their arguing and swaying of their battle worn bodies they both held pleased smiles.

"I guess we can rule out who won the race up here then." Lucy said as it was pretty much pointless to guess who came first since no really saw them up until they both stopped and the others had to agree with the blonde.

"True, but it was a little entertaining to say the least." A new voice said as everyone searched the area to locate it, all of which were sure that it was Gray's baritone voice until Natsu caught sight of him walking down a staircase. "Here's one more game if you're up for it; it's called follow the leader."

"Gray went that way, we have to go after him!" Natsu exclaimed as he was the first to rush forward in the direction Gray went, making sure to be careful or else the floor would give out on him again.

"At least help ones who are too tired to move as fast as you flame brain." Gray's voice rang out again and he slightly stepped back realizing that Erza was too tired to keep up with him and both Lucy and Levy were trying to support her.

"Sorry Erza, but we've got an ice princess to catch!" Natsu said as he picked up the Titania and piggybacked her since he had the most strength in his team at the moment, once again picking up the pace in the direction Gray's scent was leading him.

Elfman had a similar idea as he picked up his elder sister and carried her himself since she was in a similar state like Erza, although he too was a bit tired from his confrontations with Lucy and her spirits. In the end both teams had to follow the sound of Gray's voice and Natsu's sense of smell to pick up the trail, which of course the dragon slayer had tried to lose the other team but couldn't find a way to shake them off as he continued to follow the ice mage's scent. The dragon slayer couldn't believe how much of a maze the temple was since he usually busted through ceilings and floors the last time he was here, but this time every corner he took led him down a flight of stairs before winding up in another chamber or hallway with another staircase. It was becoming rather tedious to constantly walk down the stairs and with Erza on his back he was growing tired, but he wouldn't let his opposition know about that so he toughed it out as much as he could. He would've expected Wendy to heal the two, but she ended up exhausting herself a bit healing the others as they waited for Mira and Erza to show up so in the end the dark haired girl didn't have enough magical energy in her, leaving the two women in a weakened state.

"Man how far does this thing go on?" Natsu questioned as he finished climbing down another flight of stairs, but this time he stood in a long hallway that was slowly giving way to natural rock formations the deeper it went.

"You're almost there actually, I'm standing right here." Gray's voice called out and the group looked everywhere until they noticed his silhouette standing near the end of the hallway with bits of his background illuminated quite ominously.

"Final stretch guys c'mon!" Natsu cried out as he picked up the pace with renewed vigor, but Lucy began to feel a sense of foreboding from all this until she realized why the hallway seemed so familiar to her.

"Wait! Natsu!" She called out to him, but he didn't listen and in the end gave chase knowing that this entire thing didn't feel right just by walking down this and it grew even worse as she could tell that a large chamber was up ahead past Gray's silhouette, more like a huge cave with the sound of the ocean pounding against it outside. She was growing nervous as they closed in with every step feeling heavier than the last, but all of it dissipated as Gray finally stepped out of the shadows and smiled at all of them.

"Took you guys long enough." Gray said once they all reached him and all of the Lucy's worries came for naught as nothing bad had happened and she already tried sensing out for any of the others, but she didn't feel any of their presences nearby.

"Are you okay Gray? Where are Laxus and the Thunder Legion?" Erza asked as she got off of Natsu's back and decided to stand on her own two feet, Mira copying her as well although Elfman and Lisanna protested her actions.

"When the big guy was away, I managed to slip by and escape. As far as I know, they think I got away in one of the boats at the dock and heading for the mainland." Gray explained as they all showed signs of relief that their ice mage was safe and sound, hiding out in the lower depths of the temple.

"It's good to know that you are alright, now come with us we'll take you home." Erza said, but Gray shook his head as he walked a bit deeper towards the cave and they all looked at him curiously.

"Actually Erza, I was wondering if you all wouldn't mind taking a trip down memory lane with me?" The ice mage asked and he knew that there was no way they wouldn't refuse him, especially his team after what they knew about this cave.

"Very well Gray, we understand your wishes and will follow along." Erza replied knowing that there was a full consensus to stay nearby the ice mage if something happened when they weren't looking.

Although it was a trip down memory lane, the ice mage remained silent throughout it and Mira's team was rather curious what this cave had that meant so much to Gray for him to consider it a memory. Team E.L.L.N. sans Carla and Levy knew all about it and had asked Gray if he was fine with them telling his story about their time on Galuna. The ice mage merely replied with a grunt they knew to be a go ahead and told the others of the events that took place on the island of the moon. Needless to say they were shocked that such a life changing event happened to their dear ice mage on an island they considered was of no importance ever since they stepped foot on it and Lisanna couldn't help but feel the most sympathy for Gray out of the whole group. She couldn't believe how much Gray had gone through in the few days he spent on the island and having to give his final goodbye to his master as she melted away into the sea because his former senior wanted to fulfil a long awaited dream. Mira understood how demons could ruin the lives of people, she was skeptical at best with the villagers even though she hasn't spoken to them directly, but those who cause nothing but pain and destruction were the ones she was always labeled as back in her old hometown.

When Erza and Lucy recounted what happened here, she felt a pang of guilt shoot through her heart as she remembered the night she yelled at Gray to leave her home when she believed he never lost those important to him. He had outright admitted that he had in a vague manner, but it was overwhelming to know that she was walking down the same cave system that had destroyed his life prior to joining Fairy Tail. Cana hadn't learned of this, sure she knew his backstory and what brought him to the guild, but she never discovered what exactly happened when he went after Lucy, Happy and Natsu back then. Years ago she vowed that she'd be there to help him through it if he ever came across the thing that ruined him, but instead his team was there for him and where was she? She was busy getting drunk back at the guild while he suffered through his emotional past and fought back to claim his future. She gritted her teeth at how much she had failed to do in the past and wished that she could take it all back, just so she could actually prove that even though they weren't so connected like they used to be, she was still there to support him in his time of need.

Carla had learned a few dark things concerning the ice mage and every single bit of information that she was given only served to prove that the young man had only known suffering throughout his life. He lost all those he cared about, two families by the same creature and would later on face hardships that were every bit gruelly as the last with him actually dying at one point. Gray had suffered so much and yet he goes on living his life and Carla had began to grow a sense of respect for the stripping young man as he refused to give up when he has been walking through hell itself to live another day and it slowly dawned on her that this was why Wendy looked up to man as her older brother. The reason being that no matter how hard life got for him, he was always looking out for others and never backed down to make sure that their future's were secured even if his was lost in the process. The white furred Exceed would have admired him a little more if it weren't for the fact that the same scene from her vision was beginning, the group had stopped moving and Gray was kneeling in front of a puddle as the others waited for him to stand up again.

"It's good to know that you could all make it, but this is where the trip ends." Gray said in a straight voice though his face showed regret like that of committing a crime he really didn't want to and Carla immediately reacted upon it as she summoned her Aria and grabbed a hold of Wendy while the ice mage jumped back from the group.

"Happy quickly take to the air and follow me!" The white furred cat called out as Happy soon followed after her, but forgot to latch onto Natsu to take him along as well.

"FREED DO IT!" Gray yelled as Freed stepped out of an overlooking cliff edge and drew his rune writing rapier, already forming the first stages of his giant rune barrier around the teams. Many tried to flee before the barrier was completed, but their exhaustion had slowed them down and they couldn't escape in time.

"Gray what are you doing!" Erza shouted as she banged on the rune barrier looking at Gray with worried eyes of what they had made him do. He didn't return her gaze as he downcasted them away from her and took another step back as she continued to bang on the barrier, though she didn't have the energy to try harder.

"Happy get to Toby on the roof and tell him to start the ritual!" Gray commanded, but the blue cat was confused about everything that was going on and turned to Carla for support, to which she nodded for him to follow his instructions and rushed his way out of the cave through one of the many small crevasses in the cave walls that illuminated the rather dark cave.

"It doesn't have to be like this!" Lucy cried knowing which ritual he was referring too, hoping that Levy could break the barrier wall soon before it was too late, but she knew that the petite woman was trying her best as it was.

"I'll try to contain it as long as I can Gray, hopefully this does it for sure!" Freed called out as he continually rewrote the barrier every time Levy would break a sentence, but he also tried his best to keep track of when the beam would come, hoping that those preparations he had made would hold out against Moon Drip long enough before it broke his spells.

"I'm sorry you guys, this is the only option left. It's better this way." Gray solemnly said as he turned his back to them, the cave illuminating into a light purple glow full knowing what it signified as he caught the magic circle on the ceiling at the corner of his eye.

 _"The Moon Drip's already begun"_


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

All Gray could hear was their groaning and pleas to stop all of this and try to talk it out, but he knew that there was no going back now. He couldn't just turn on the plan the others worked for because he caved in and he could see the strain Freed was going through trying to keep his barrier up beneath the Moon Drip's effect and Levy's attempts in breaking a sentence here and there. He couldn't bear to look at them as it would only serve to remind him what Ur was feeling as she was melted away by the spell, which was a thought he could only wish to disappear from his mind. It was all the ice mage was willing to do until two small hands began to shake his arm rapidly and Gray looked down at the worried face of Wendy who was trying to voice out her concerns for her friends.

"Gray-san why are you doing this!? It's hurting them!" She cried, trying her best to pull him over to her trapped friends in an attempt to see the error he had caused but he wouldn't budge an inch.

"I know Wendy, but it's for their own good." Gray solemnly replied, keeping his attention on her rather than what was happening behind her.

"How is this for their own good!? You are hurting your own friends for no reason at all!" Carla cried out as she had finally passed her stunned stupor of her vision coming to fruition and watched in shock of how close Wendy had been to being trapped alongside them.

"There is a reason!" Gray raised his voice, but reeled in his raw emotions as he had plenty of time to vent them out beforehand and lowered his tone back to a neutral one. "We are trying to free them from being under a spell's influence."

"What?" Wendy questioned since she had no clue to what he meant by a spell, but Carla began to piece everything together rather quickly once he said that they were trying to free them.

"All of you planned to use the punch for your first attempt." The white Exceed said aloud and Gray nodded to her as the events throughout these past two weeks were starting to make sense to her.

"I don't know if you've figured it out yet, but this wasn't how it was supposed to end. It should've been a done deal back at the guild although not all plans are always going to succeed on the first go." He replied to her and Carla saw how the guild's actions and their responses to Gray had all began, while the ice mage himself was busy creating a way to break the spell they were under.

"But what of Levy? She drank the punch at the guild." Carla said as she remembered the conversation the group was having and the look of realization dawned on Gray's face as he looked up towards the sealed group.

"Oh Mavis..." Gray quickly rushed to the barrier, standing in front of the petite blunette who had beads of sweat running down the side of her face as it was taxing her to continue her efforts in dispelling Freed's barrier under the Moon Drip. "I'm so sorry Levy, I completely forgot that you're no longer affected!" She could hear the worried tone in his voice and looked up at his face as he traced across the area in which she was currently working on.

"What do you mean?" Levy asked a little short of breath, for the strain on her was becoming evident the longer she stood underneath the purple beam of light.

"I'll tell you about it later, for now just stay conscious." Gray was sure she would be the first to fall as her eyes were becoming dreary and she was already swaying slightly. "Freed try to lift your barrier up for me to grab Levy!"

"I'm not so sure about that Gray, if you're not careful my barrier would collapse and it is already enough of a challenge trying to maintain it!" The green haired man called back as at the moment he couldn't think of a reason behind Gray's motives of grabbing the blunette.

"Just trust me Freed, I know I can grab her before it becomes too much of a strain for you or is one of the members of the Thunder Legion not as tough as he claims?" Gray knew that amongst all of them in their group, Freed holds the strongest regard for the Thunder Legion and Laxus' name so he's hoping that he could play on that for the situation. Cheap, but effective as the long haired man looked at him a little disdainfully.

"No one belittles a member of Laxus' Thunder Legion!" Freed cried out as the ice mage took notice of the broken sentence Levy was working on slowly disappear and took it as his chance.

He reached in as fast as he could for Levy's arms and pulled her to him, but just as he finally managed to get her out he noticed the person behind her. He momentarily froze at the sight of Cana struggling to keep herself up from the cave floor, the ice mage cursing to himself at realizing his second blunder. Cana was already cured as well from the original strain of the antidote, but she was slightly further away from him and he had to decide a course of action fast. He called for Wendy telling her and Carla to take Levy from him while he prepared himself to run dead on inside the barrier.

With a few more breaths he charged the barrier, going through rather easily although he prepared for the second aspect of it. Once inside and under Moon Drip's light he could feel the immense pressure of having his magical energy slowly depleted away and fought against his weariness to scoop Cana into his arms, pushing his strength in into his legs to get back out. Gray was close, just another two feet and he'd be in the clear until something latched onto his leg causing him to trip yet he did his best to push the brunette out of the barrier before he made it to the ground. The ice mage looked down at his feet to see Natsu clutching tightly at his ankle, struggling to get to his feet as Gray got right back up once he shook his hand off of him.

"W-Why are you doing this ice p-princess?" Natsu asked haggardly trying with everything he had not to fall onto his face, while Gray too was trying to keep his strength together and get out.

"Because it's the thing that'll help you, flame breath." Gray replied as he began to take a few steps back nearer to the edge of the barrier with its slight hum giving him the distance he was to freedom. "Just take it for a bit longer and it'll all be over."

"No way I'm giving up on you Gray, you and me will be together." The dragon slayer was nearing his limit as the pressure was becoming too much and he could tell that Gray was feeling the drain as well. "You said so yourself that you love me." He continued with a hopeful smile, but the ice mage didn't return it.

"I never said I loved you Natsu." The dark haired young man told him the truth and he was soon met with the look of distraught from Natsu as his imaginary world collapsed. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but nothing and I mean absolutely nothing will ever be between us on that sort of level."

Natsu felt crushed that the ice mage actually said that to him, he did so much in the name of getting Gray to be his own and now it was all for not. He didn't want to believe it when Gajeel said it since he could have been lying to him to get him angry, but the iron dragon slayer was telling the truth and now it hurt more than ever. It hurt a lot, more than any punch he had ever received although the pain didn't last long before he became angry. His anger came from all the things he had to go through only to be told off in the end, what completely odd experiences he shared with the ice mage that he believed to be memorable to just be one-sided. The pink haired slayer wanted to fight, but all this information was too much for him to bear and he had the odd sense of no longer really caring before he allowed his eyelids to finally close and let gravity pull his body to the ground.

With Natsu finally on the ground, Gray quickly made his way out of the barrier and watched as the remainder of his friends slowly follow after the dragon slayer's example. A pang of guilt tended to beat against his heart as he watched them try their hardest to break out of the barrier, now without Levy's help, and it saddened him to see Lucy try desperately to call upon her spirits to help but Loke had explained to them that they could not interfere for Lucy's sake. That didn't mean that they liked it without question as he could only think of how some of her spirits were trying desperately to come to her aid while the others did their best to hold them back. It was nearly complete, the time limit to how long they were allowed to be exposed by the beam of light coming ever so fast, but it was the struggled grunting of Erza that drew Gray's attention.

He was positive that amongst them all, that Mira and Erza would be standing tall however Mira couldn't hold her own like Erza and succumbed to the Moon Drip's draining effect. She rested against Elfman's form while Erza placed a hand against the barrier, her brown eyes looking deep into Gray's dark ones. She stood with all her willpower to look at her beloved ice mage and a smile crept onto her face as he placed his hand against the barrier on hers. The dark haired young man was filled with the swirling emotions that he held for his best friend, only equalled to the ones he felt for his first ever love and the newly made one in Lucy.

"I can't and won't give up Gray, you must understand my feelings." Erza said through a bit of labored breathing, her grip on her consciousness fading in and out with every second that passed them by. "I've been so afraid of those who would get close to me and how much we both meant to each other, but I know that there isn't anyone else that I want to be by my side."

"It's...It's great to hear that Erza," Gray's gaze fell towards their hands, the barrier only separating them by a measly inch before they could even hold each other. "But I learned that what you feel for me isn't the love that belongs to you. Your heart doesn't belong to me, it goes out for someone else that I don't think I could measure up to in your eyes."

"What are you saying Gray? You've given me the things I had always thought I'd never have again, there isn't a person out there that you yourself can't compete with." Erza could tell by the way he was acting that the ice mage was trying to distance himself again, to seal himself off from the joys he's been so wrongly denied of and she wasn't going to let him do it again.

"I wish that was true Eza, but reality is a cold world and I think...I think I've managed to fit right in." Gray solemnly replied as he let his hand drop from the barrier, turning away from it as he placed his hands into his pockets.

"Gray, don't walk away from me! Please!" Erza shouted, banging against her entrapment with whatever amount of strength she could muster as she was witnessing herself failing to get Gray to understand. "This is our fairy tale, it shouldn't have to end like this." Her strength was leaving her as she slowly slid to her knees, using the barrier as a form of support to lean against as her eyes struggled to stay open, but she was able to see him come back to her and kneel in front of her.

She had a sense of joy go through her now that he came back, but the sad smile on his face told her that he still hadn't changed his mind. That look on Gray's face was one the requip mage believed to have etched into her memory as the sadness in his eyes spoke volumes to her compared to what he said next.

"I wish it didn't too, but I'm afraid the princess hasn't found her real prince charming yet." He watched as his words registered in Erza's mind followed by the pained look she gave him before her head began to slowly droop as her strength was nearly gone. "Your happily ever after is still out there, but this is "the end" for me."

He watched as the Moon Drip's beam continued to pour in for another minute before it began to shrink down its diameter until it was completely gone. Once the light had vanished, Freed dropped the barrier and as exhausted as he was, he let out a small chuckle as this entire ordeal was finally over and allowed himself a welcomed rest on his perch above everyone else. Gray watched the resting forms of his friends as their part in this great mishap was finished and all their lives could finally go back to normal. No later did Wendy come up to his side, as she too was relieved that all their punishment would not bother them any longer.

"Is it really over?" Carla asked once she was certain the Levy was in a suitable resting position, flying her way into Wendy's arms while the ice mage let out a tired sigh.

"It sure is...It sure is." Gray replied as he could hear the sound of approaching footsteps coming from the nearby entrance, with Juvia and Gajeel being the first ones to emerge into the large cave.

"So it seems that Juvia's mistake has been finally corrected." Juvia remarked in a thankful manner, keeping her gaze towards her guildmates rather than Gray since they still needed a bit of time to get over what had happened between them.

"Though I hardly paid much attention to what was happening, I still say that this was a nightmare to get through." Laxus said once he walked in with Bickslow and Evergreen at his sides. "But next time, cut me out in anything regarding saving the guild from something like this. Hell no if I'm getting back on my knees again."

"Yeah well, there's no need to worry about that anymore." Loke spoke out as he shimmered into existence from the Celestial Spirit World. "I've already got more antidotes under development so I'm prepared if this didn't work."

"Which reminds me..." Laxus said before unleashing a bolt of lighting upon Loke who was left a smoldering mess with his hair in many places. "That's for making me do a stupid ritual and I'm saving the one for making me a butler for later."

"That wasn't very nice." Loke commented as he coughed up bits of smoke, feeling slightly tingly as most of the electric current had yet to pass through his body.

"If you are done fooling around, I do believe Gray requires our assistance in transporting all your comrades to the village for treatment." Lyon had then appeared with Toby next to him, making his way over to his former junior under Ur and placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder. "I understand that it must be hard for you Gray, but this had to be done for their sakes."

"It's still not a lump you can swallow so easily if you're willing to put your friends through that for the greater good on their behalf." Gray replied as Lyon gave another comforting squeeze before letting go of his shoulder and assisted in carrying Levy in his arms.

Everyone began to carry anybody they could, Bickslow helped Evergreen take Elfman back up top as he was the largest of the group and Laxus couldn't assist as he was busy carrying Mira right after them. Toby picked up Natsu as Happy carried Lisanna by her shirt lifting her in the air thanks to his wings right next to Toby, the dog-like man remaining quiet as he was told by Lyon beforehand to keep his tone low. Loke had gone over to Erza, since he wanted Gray to carry Lucy, but the requip mage's reflexes acted faster than he could think as he was struck with a gauntlet fist. The strawberry blonde spirit rolled in pain as this marked the fourth time he'd been punched in the face in the past two weeks and none of them were ever soft, yet they seemed to get harder and harder.

Once Bickslow came back he had a go at it and was met with the same fate, but his helmet resisted most of the blow although it was left with a fist imprint on his visor. On the behalf of everyone's safety, they wanted Laxus to carry her however the larger man gave a big 'Nope' before he picked up Cana and walked away from the danger zone. They watched in awe as even one of the strongest men in Fairy Tail ran from the situation in a calm manner as they then diverted their attention to the ice mage.

"What?" Sure the answer was obvious, but the ice mage didn't want to believe that it was up to him to come close to Erza when she could very well knock him out by merely touching her.

"You're up Gray, last guy to try and carry Erza since Freed isn't fit to do anything after how much magic he wasted for the plan." Loke replied to him while he soothed his reddened cheek, trying his best not to look like he was really in a lot of pain.

"Fine, but I'm gonna kick your ass if this goes bad." Gray tried to lift a little spirits within him, but cracking jokes still doesn't feel right to him just yet.

The ice mage tentatively made his way towards Erza's resting form, slowly reaching a nervous hand onto her pauldron awaiting for her hand to take hold of his arm. He felt her shift and was ready to take back his hand, but the requip mage didn't make any other movement and the others urged him to continue. He cursed to himself as he slowly looped his arm under her knees and hoisted her torso on his free arm while she reclined on his chest. The others were shocked to see Erza slightly snuggle herself into him with a comfortable look on her face at the presence of Gray being so close to her and wondered whether or not she truly was cured. They'd figure that one out at a later time, for now they got Loke to carry Lucy and made their way towards the temple's entrance where once they arrived they were greeted by the villagers who had set up stretchers as they had been asked to do once the purple beam of light disappeared.

The others were already placed onto them, the villagers assisting in taking them back while Laxus and the now slightly stumbly Bickslow worked together to take the stretcher carrying Elfman. It took a little time for Gray to get Erza down as she seemed to grip tighter whenever he loosened his grip on her and it took everything in him not to say she was acting cute out loud, but she finally released him when he iced his body over a little for her grip to slip. He watched as the villagers carried her away and a part of him felt both relief and pain at the discovery that he broke his heart twice with two different girls he knew for nearly his entire life.

"Cheer up Gray, we'll get them back to the village and get them fixed up no problem." Lulu said as she came up beside him, placing a comforting claw on his hand as he gave a small smile towards her. "So there's no need to look so glum, now come on. You must be tired from everything that's happened and I'm sure sleeping in the temple isn't really comfortable."

"Yeah you're right, it's hard to sleep in there." Gray replied as he began walking after the group with Lulu beside him. "I'll talk to them in the morning and see if things are alright, the worse that could happen is them getting mad at me but they'll get over it in time."

* * *

The next morning was the moment of truth, Gray couldn't get an ounce of sleep the previous night over worrying about what physical damage might have been done because of the Moon Drip and hoped with everything that their health was fine. Even if the Thunder Legion, the villagers, Lucy's spirits and Laxus himself told the ice mage that there was nothing to be fussing about. He waited for someone to get up first, in truth he wanted to find out if they could even walk or were sick while the others thought he wanted to see if the potion's effects have finally been lifted. A groan could be heard coming from one of the tents that had been set upped and Gray was the first to be there, but he momentarily froze when it was Natsu who came out holding his head and trying to block the sunlight from his eyes.

"Ugh...I feel like I've been riding that death trap of a train for so many hours straight." The pink haired slayer said aloud to himself until he took notice of his surroundings and was in momentary shock discovering that he wasn't home before his eyes landed on Gray.

"Yo Natsu you alright, you look like complete shit." Gray said to him as he still remained a few feet away from the pink haired teen, but the dragon slayer merely glared at the ice mage's claim.

"I feel like it, but the nightmare was much worse." He replied as he found a nearby log to sit on and Gray took this opportunity to sit nearby and hand him a water pouch hanging on a nearby hook.

"What? So you got sick in your nightmare too?" Gray said in a tone that was clearly making fun of him, but he was trying to play it as normal as possible to see the extent of the Moon Drip's effects. "For someone who likes busting through walls and ceilings, you're a pretty big wimp in your sleep."

"Who you calling wimp, ice princess!?" Natsu stood up faster than anything and slowly sat himself down as the blood flowed too quickly to his head and he already was feeling sick before so this new feeling was totally unwelcomed.

"Care to share or are you too prideful to say that a dream got you sick?" Gray challenged and Natsu was sure to take the bait, although for the first time the ice mage noticed him falter from saying anything. "Guess I was right."

"No you weren't it's just..." He began to mumble the rest of his sentence and Gray emphasized that he couldn't here him by cupping his ear to him. "I said that it..." He did it again and the ice mage sighed at him.

"I still can't hear you Natsu, are you seriously that chicken to tell me?" He had to goad him into revealing the truth, hopefully it was one that he liked to hear.

"I said that my nightmare was about me being in love with you!" He shouted to him in exasperation and immediately shut himself up at the sight of Gray's eyes going wide. "Like I said it was nightmare and I'm glad I finally woke up, you'd be glad too if you had to deal with the things I had to."

Gray gave him a questioning look before he turned his gaze away from the dragon slayer and sighed to himself in relief, but made it look like one of unbelievability. The ice mage folded his arms, set his face into his most neutral poker face and eyed him suspiciously just to keep up appearances. If Natsu was already cured and behaved this way, then Gray was positive the others would think of it as nothing more than a dream. Well, there's hoping it was the same effect for all of them or else he had to come up with a number of responses to all of them.

"It may have an underlying meaning behind it, but I better make sure to keep my distance from you just in case." Gray replied as this was the most likely way he would've answered him if he heard it without realizing what was really happening.

"Don't!" Natsu shouted unconsciously, having no idea where that came from and drew his outstretched hand back as it was on it's way towards Gray's hand. "I mean, you don't have to be so nervous ice princess. I won't go chasing after you or anything, so you don't have to keep your distance from me, alright?" Natsu watched as the ice mage regarded him for a second before give a small nod, although he put a finger up to make a point.

"Alright I won't, but if I catch even a sense of any funny business, I will make sure a ten foot ice pole separates you and me. Got it?" One small threat like claim, but it worked in Gray's favor as the dragon slayer nodded furiously. "Good"

After that little talk Gray and Natsu just sat there for a while, letting time fly by although the ice mage was there because he wanted to see who else would wake up aside the dragon slayer. As for the pink haired teen, he believed that he had caused an awkward moment between them and the air was growing rather stale with each passing minute. He tapped on the bark of his log seat rhythmically, looking back at the scenery around them and finally found a subject to bring up when he noticed the temple at the peak of the mountain of where they were.

"So are you gonna tell me why we're on Galuna Island?" He asked to the ice mage who had decided to open his eyes, since he had decided to close them a few minutes ago.

"I thought you remembered that at least?" The dark haired young man replied as he looked out to the other villagers who had begun to get their morning routines underway. "I came here to visit my master's final resting place and left without a word, you guys got worried when I didn't make contact for two days and came after me."

"We?" Natsu echoed as he tried to think back to who else he was with until the small fragments of his memory had pieced together the Strauss', his team, Levy, Cana and Wendy. "That many of us came after you? Were we that bored with nothing to do that we decided to come all the way out here to this island?"

"Not really, as far as I know our team was the one to come after me, but you guys managed to rope the others in somehow." Gray tried his best to be convincing since this was a far better way of him understanding the situation rather than getting him to accept the truth. "All of you turned this into some sort of race to the temple and aside from the 'participants' I found it rather amusing, but no one really won."

"Oh, but why are we in the village if we were already at the temple?" To Natsu, Gray's story made sense although he couldn't really piece together some parts of the story so easily and he had questions of what happened next.

"Apparently you forgot that the temple isn't as sturdy as it once was back in the day, so the floor gave underneath all the weight and you guys ended up falling into the cave I was in." The ice mage could only hope that it made as much sense as he made it out to sound as even he knew that a floor or two might've cushioned their fall and stopped them from reaching the cave networks.

"Is anyone really hurt? Are the others okay?" Natsu asked worriedly as he remembered how the floor gave out underneath them the first time when they came inside the temple.

"Surprisingly enough, everyone came out with nothing more than a few bruises and scratches, but they fell unconscious once they made it to solid ground." One lie after the other, but Gray knew he had to come clean if someone caught on to him. "If you're wondering about Laxus and the Thunder Legion, I called them to help me carry you guys here yet I was stuck waiting for them to show up so I'm more or less tired without a night's rest."

"Well I guess I'm...uh...sorry for making you go through that." Natsu apologized in his best straight voice he had since he almost flopped over his own tongue on how foreign that word was when addressing Gray.

"Don't worry about it flame breath, it's past us anyway so it's all good." Gray replied rather calmly in Natsu's opinion, who was expecting to be made fun of for actually apologizing to him. "It's finally behind us..."

"Uhh...you alright there ice princess?" The dragon slayer asked since the ice mage had a bit of a mile yard stare for quite a while and fell silent, which kinda freaked Natsu out a little at how random it occurred.

"I'm fine, just had some lingering thoughts is all." Gray replied as the sounds of groaning began to fill the air and he knew that some others had finally woken up, hoping to speak with them before there was a chance of utter confusion spreading amongst them. "I'm going to check up on the others, I'll see you around ash-for-brains."

"Yeah, see ya..." Natsu had oddly no retort within him to get back at Gray's mocking nickname, but there was this odd sensation in his chest as he watched the ice mage's back distance himself with each step he took. _"But why is that I don't want you to leave?"_


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The closest tent that Gray had heard groaning came from the one housing the Strauss siblings and to the ice mage's surprise, he wasn't the first one there. Once he rounded the hut obstructing his view, the dark haired young man took notice of how Evergreen stood in an aggravated stance as she had her hands at her hips while a slumped over Elfman was shying away from her gaze. He couldn't really hear what exactly she was telling him, but the defeated look on the larger man's face told him that she was none too happy with his behavior as of late. Evergreen seemed to be walking away from Elfman, but Gray knew it wasn't over and watched as the muscular man followed after the bespeckled woman with what he could perceive as light muttering, possibly apologies to her if he had to take a guess.

The ice mage would've preferred to have spoken to Elfman before anyone else so he could implement his own backstory of what happened in the past day or so, but he was positive that the beast soul mage was going to get more of an earful to really care about anything else. Gray was sure that the last thing Elfman would want is to make Evergreen mad, so he must be utterly confused of what he must have done to receive her scolding this early in the day. Nonetheless, that was already two down from the list which left some of the more heavy hitters, on an emotional level although two of them were physical ones as well, to deal with and it so happens that one such person had emerged from the Strauss tent.

Mira came out with a throbbing head, only comparable to the few times she had ever gotten hungover in her lifetime, but this easily fit right into the same category. The white haired barmaid did her best to understand her surroundings, the sun breaking past the tree line as it rose into the sky and the numerous tents and huts that were all around with their inhabitants awake and active. Concern was the first to come to her mind as she realized that she was in an unfamiliar place, although she began to settle at seeing Lisanna laying on a mat in the tent she had just exited from and noticed that some of her guildmates were here as well. The white haired woman turned from left to right, trying to get anyone's attention so she could get some help until she noticed the familiar mop of black hair and exposed skin making his way over to her.

Gray tried to act as natural as possible while he made his way over to Mira, but that didn't go as smooth as he hoped it would since the sound of his jacket and shirt hitting the ground made him stop to pick it up. He cursed his stripping habit for an untimely reaction, but he preferred this rather than still be dressed in that butler outfit. He heard Mira giggle and sarcastically thought that at least someone was enjoying the hassles he had to deal with on a nearly everyday basis, but he couldn't really ask for a better reaction from her than that. Now putting back on his fallen attire, Gray came closer to where Mira stood and took notice that she looked rather relieved that he had come which was still debateable if it was a good sign or not.

"Mornin' Mira, you alright? You looked a little bit worried a few seconds ago." Gray kept space between him and the demoness since he was a little in the way of being paranoid thinking that she'd pounce on him.

"Morning Gray and I was actually overwhelmed with the change of scenery compared to what I'm use to." Mira explained as she spread her arms across to indicate their surroundings. "I saw some of our friends here, but they were too far away for them to see me until I noticed you coming to me."

"I thought you needed help or something and I wasn't really doing much at the moment, so I thought I'd come and see if I could be of any use." The ice mage replied although he couldn't help but feel like he was being calculated by the barmaid.

"Thank you for looking out for my well being Gray, I really appreciate it." Mira said kindly and Gray gave her one of his regular smirks just to show that everything's fine. "Although I am wondering why we are here, plus where is here?"

"Well a number of circumstances brought you and a few of the others to Galuna Island, where we are currently standing in its first settlement." The ice mage let the information sink in and wasn't surprised when she had asked if he would elaborate on just what exactly were the circumstances that brought her here.

Gray had went onto explaining what was going on in the similar way he had told Natsu, but he made sure he was as clueless as to how his team managed to convince them to follow along. He continued to explain that he was visiting the final resting place of his master when they had literally fallen in on him watching the shallow pools in the cave. Mira on the other hand felt the sense that she had some information privy to the significance the island held for Gray regarding his master, but that's his past he's kept behind closed doors so she didn't know much else. She knew that the ice mage's response made some amount of sense, but she was one to see through a lot of people in her time and at that moment Gray was setting himself up as a liar.

"Thank you for explaining Gray, but next time try a little harder not to act as if you have no clue what's going on." The ice mage in turn nearly toppled over as Mira had seen right through him to some extent. "What's really going on Gray and you better not lie to me or else there won't be anymore cooled food for you and I'll limit your alcohol servings."

"You wouldn't." The ice mage knew he could always cool his own food, but Mira did it so well that there was still enough warmth in his meal to really enjoy instead of being like it was right out of the freezer. Not to mention that the guild's booze was the best since it all had to pass the "Alberona Test of Approval" to be even accepted into the taps.

"Are you willing to take the chance?" Mira retorted and knew she had gained victory over the ice mage as his shoulders slumped. "You chose correctly Gray, now cough up the truth."

Gray sighed in defeat, what is it with these types of situations that don't turn out for the better on his behalf? They usually go flawless out on jobs when he had to be inconspicuous and he was sure that his acting wasn't that bad, so it shouldn't have been simple for Mira to see through his ruse. So much for thinking things would be easy from last night onward, but maybe being honest with everyone would be a much easier way to deal with this. Or it could go terribly wrong, there's no real way of telling so he's hoping that he'd catch a break for once.

"Fine, well here goes nothing and I honestly think you won't even believe me so try to keep in mind that everything I say is the truth." Gray had no real idea how anyone would believe the things that had happened, the ice mage was sure the others would've thought it was a work a fiction some random person thought about and wrote for Mavis knows what reason.

"You haven't lied to me yet Gray, except for the earlier one of course, so I'm sure I can trust your word and I know when you're lying." Boy did the ice mage really agree when Mira said she could tell when he was lying, he wouldn't dare question her ability any time soon.

"Alright well for the past two weeks you and pretty much the entire guild had unknowingly drank a potion that had been accidentally mixed into your punch for the 30,000th completed job request celebration. The effects of it were that you all had developed...um...strong feelings for me..." It took every nerve in his body not to react when he saw Mira's eyes widen at the revelation and more so when she began to fan herself in embarrassment.

"I might've spoken too soon about believing you Gray, not that I'm saying that you yourself aren't attractive and that I'm not attracted to you! I mean that you're handsome and all, but I don't think...oh dear." Mira became flustered instantly as she tripped over her own words, all the while trying to make herself clear in the sense that she wasn't crushing on Gray. "I meant that... well... it's uh... a little far fetched! Yes, that's the word I'm looking for."

"Yeah I thought so too, until I started to notice everyone's behavior and what someone had told me of what was going on in the guild when I wasn't around." He began to recall what Loke had told him on their way to the guild and a little more during the night while he couldn't go to sleep. "That potion really messed with everyone's minds and it went as far as make you declare war against Erza over me." Now the ice mage couldn't lie that he felt a bit flattered when Loke told him this, but he also realized the dangers if that had continued.

"Oh my, did I really do something like that?" Now Mira was blushing in embarrassment of what she had done, especially for the fact that she declared a love war with her old rival. "But what of the others, did anything get out of hand? Did I do something odd?"

"Don't worry about the others at the guild, Loke came up with a plan to cure everyone there although a small group of people managed to avoid it which included you too." Gray thought back to answer her second question and this time he made sure not to give away anything. "Not much got out of hand that wasn't easily dealt with as we used a specific spell native to the island and you...may not have done something major either."

"Gray, you're trying to lie again. Just tell me what I did because I'm sure I can handle it, I am a grown woman after all." Mira had noticed the slight pause he had and the slightest moment of hesitation when he talked about her. "I can already guess that I was trying to get you to go on a date with me or lead you into thinking about matching up with me." Mira joked, although she really thought that those possibilities did suit her on what she would've done in that situation.

"Sort of, you kissed me right after telling me that I was very special in your life." Gray replied and Mira's face went cherry red, which was actually the first time Gray's ever seen her face turn such a shade.

The demoness on the other hand was ready to die in that moment, she knew she was a very wild type of person in her youth but she thought that was already past her. Mira was sure she'd try a few more scenarios to get Gray in the mood for something like that, but she didn't expect to flat out kiss the ice mage at the most opportune time for her. The white haired woman tried her hardest to sift through her murky memory of the past few days until she found what she was looking for and was she surprised. In that instant, Mira had began to through a number of apologies at the ice mage as she tried to get his forgiveness for her potion induced self about her actions.

"It's alright Mira, I knew that you were affected so I tried not to let it bother me." Gray answered to her apologies, although it kind of bummed the demoness out as she slightly deflated at his claim.

"Was...Was my kiss not that memorable to you Gray?" She asked with a hurt filled voice, her eyes pooling with small tears and the look on the ice mage's face told her that she had him in her grasp.

"N-No I'm not saying it wasn't memorable, all I'm saying is that in a way, the real you wasn't kissing me." Gray knew she was doing her act and this time he wouldn't fall for it, so he decided to flip the situation around for a change. "Besides I don't think you should worry about that when your heart throb is nearby and could very well hear us."

Mira immediately recoiled as she quickly scanned the area for said person, since it wasn't that hard to spot his towering form and tried to hide away the fact that Gray got her good. She played with her fingers once she realized that she was had, plus the fact that she saw her heart throb busy speaking with his team about a matter involving her younger brother. She honestly couldn't believe that the ice mage had got the upper hand on her in their little mind game interactions, but she couldn't deny that she was proud of him for it. Although she was still a bit of a sore loser.

"That's mean Gray, you don't involve crushes at all and you could've warn me that he was here." Mira whisper shouted at him, believing that the tall muscular blonde her eyes had been set on wouldn't hear them, but the dark haired young man knew that Evergreen's raised voice made sure he couldn't hear anything else. "But the real question is how did you know?"

"Aside from the way you two look at each other back at the guild, he was a very irritated person when he found out that you were also crushing on me." He replied and Mira's mouth slightly dropped at how Gray saw the sly looks they gave to each other in passing and around the bar counter. "It wasn't hard to put two and two together, so someone's got her work cut out for herself."

"Geez Gray, you sure know how to get your kicks don't you? Especially on poor defenseless maidens like myself." It had been sometime since Gray's seen Mira's dramatics, for her romanticism usually overshadows everything else. "But I know there's more humiliating things you're not saying yet, all of it having to do with things I said, right?"

"You're not wrong, but I rather save you from any more embarrassment." The ice mage could tell that Mira wouldn't like to know how she went against her current crush to say sweet hollow words of being together for helping her in her darkest hour. "In any case, it's behind us now and I'll make it our own little secret so why don't you explore the village a little or chat it up with tall, blonde and brooding over there. He looks like he could use a distraction from the lover's quarrel that he's in the middle of."

"I'll go, but please make sure you keep this a secret Gray. I just don't want Laxus to feel any different about the relationship between you and me." Mira asked with pleading eyes, ones that Gray wouldn't say no to although he wouldn't have regardless.

"You've got my word Mira, but if he can't accept that all this was a misunderstanding than maybe he isn't the one for you." Gray replied as he saw this was all just a mistake and Mira was caught in the middle.

"Thanks Gray, for everything." Mira said with a smile in return before she gracefully turned her back to him and elegantly made her way towards the lightning dragon slayer.

"So how long are you gonna stay in there? I'm sure you've got something to ask, right Lisanna?" Gray said aloud, facing the Strauss tent as the last sibling had emerged, somewhat bashful that the ice mage knew she was already awake.

"And here I thought I was actually being sneaky. Guess Mira-nee was too embarrassed to notice my presence." Lisanna clasped her hands behind her, leaning back and forth on the balls of her feet like a young child trying to play innocent in front of their parent. "But how was it that you could tell that I was awake?"

"I've been up all night scanning over each of your presences in case something were to happen in your sleep, so when I felt yours shift is when I knew you were up." Gray explained as that tended to keep him busy instead of being left to his thoughts, which were things he didn't want to deal with for a while.

"You were pretty worried about us weren't you? Although it's mostly a given when it concerns the things that have happened." Lisanna replied hinting at the fact that she knew the details, but the ice mage gave her a quizzical look.

"How much did you hear?"

"I started to listen in when Mira-nee caught you lying, so I'm pretty caught up essentially." The white haired girl replied and Gray gave a small relieved sigh that he didn't have to repeat himself, which he was sure he'd have to do anyways.

"You're not surprised by any of this? I mean, now that I think about it you may have also been under the influence so the entire situation applies to you as well except for the whole kissing thing." It dawned on him that it could've been the case, but it just didn't seem right as they went on a mission together without any incident.

"I'd assume so too, but I barely got a sip of my sister's punch before I had to help her deliver more food for people. Looks like it didn't affect me as much as it did for everyone else." Lisanna had in fact only taken a sip, but she kept any actual events of developing feelings for him under wraps since it was obviously the doing of the potion he mentioned and not the real thing, right?

"Huh" Such a curious thing it was for Gray to know that small doses can drastically change the outcome of a person's behavior. "Still, things are just going to get a little more complicated from here."

"The difficulties of one is only simplified by the assistance of others, or so how I remembered that phrase going." The white haired girl said in turn, but the ice mage was unsure what it had to do with what he just said. "It means that even if you've got hardships piling up on you, it's easier to deal with it when you let others help."

"Thanks for explaining, but I think it'll be a little hard to do so if everyone's memory isn't all there to understand. Not to mention that the people who do remember have done a few things themselves to warrant some sort of non credibility." Gray responded as he thought back to how some of the others may remember what Laxus and his team had done, or have a harder time believing Juvia since she had unintentionally done this to begin with.

"Look Gray, most of my memory isn't very clear and only bits of it are coming to me slowly, but I know that you've been through a lot recently and I appreciate everything you did for us." The animal soul mage began as she tidied herself up a little to head out. "You've still have things to deal with on your own, but know that you've made a pretty good friend that you can come talk to in me."

"Thanks Lis, I'll probably take you up on that one of these days." Gray replied with a small smile as she waved her goodbye to him and scampered off to find, her nigh-obvious crush, Natsu.

* * *

After the conversations he had with the two female Strauss siblings, Gray had wandered around the village to occupy his time until the next person would awake. He bid some of the villagers a good morning and was amazed at how well they had adapted to change for the past seven years since a number of things had changed. Most of their walls no longer consisted of wood trunks tied together, rather they were integrated into new masonry walls lining around the village with the gate very well defended. It still held the look of the old village Gray had remembered, but the buildings looked much more sturdier in comparison.

It was while he admired the construction of the buildings did he noticed a recognizable person leaning against one, his long black haired mane swaying with the light breeze as his metal piercings glimmered in the morning sun. Gajeel was eyeing Gray with a displeased stare, all the while making the ice mage feel uneasy by the way the dragon slayer looked at him. The ice mage didn't understand him most of the time, but he didn't need to be a genius to know that it was mainly for the way he acted with Juvia and to some extent with Levy as well. He had to face the music some time so with a determined thought in his mind and a solid step forward, Gray made his way over towards the iron dragon slayer.

"Didn't think you had the balls to even try to face me after what you did to the Rain Woman." Gajeel said disdainfully and Gray had taken it straight on, knowing that he deserved that for acting like an asshole to her when she was only trying to help.

"How I acted was totally uncalled for, but there are somethings that have to be said up front instead of just trying some sort of subtle crap. Especially if they have any sort of implication like the one we just went through." Gray said, but Gajeel didn't appreciate the answer as he stood to his full height now and shadowed the ice mage by a few inches.

"That "subtle crap" is her way of getting close to your dumbass since you brush her off every other second of the day." The iron dragon slayer was one person that will get up in your face to make sure you see your own mistakes, although it sometimes is a little unorthodox. "She's trying her hardest because she's afraid, don't know why she would be for a selfish prick like yourself but she is. Try to see it in her way over your own clouded gaze Stripper, you're hurting others more than she is."

"You know what, you're right." Gray relented as tempers were starting to fly and this was a time for recuperating and getting things back on track, not to derail things when they finally got in the clear. "I'm sorry... things aren't what I wanted them to be, everything was so much easier when I was left alone."

"Well man up you big baby, you're not alone if ya got people in the guild looking out for ya, besides it ain't me you're supposed to be apologising to." Gajeel said as he too was instigating a confrontation with the ice mage rather than taking a peaceful approach. "Gihi, to think Shrimp was actually getting into you."

"Speaking of which, do you know how is she?" Gray had been meaning to check up on Levy as he did tell her that he'd explain everything to her.

"She's fine, she asked so many questions about what was going on and I answered her to the best of my knowledge. Took longer than I thought since she was trying her best to remember almost everything I had said about the past two weeks or so." Gajeel answered, looking back at a groggy looking Levy who was trying to shut the sun out of her face once she exited her tent.

"Did she remember much or is it a jumbled mess like the others that I've managed to talk to?" It was a bit of a recurring thing as those who had been affected lose their memory of the event until they try their hardest to recount the days past.

"Shrimp managed to remember most of the details, pretty sure if she did take the antidote like you said then she had been reminded by the others on their way here." Gajeel theorized and Gray had to agree that it may have happened like that and the only thing Levy really went through was magic drain. "Course I'm not too happy by what she may have remembered, but I've got to admit; red and blue do pair up pretty nicely."

Gray instantly understood the underlying meaning behind the iron dragon slayer's words, although he expected Levy to blush more on the pinker side like she did with him. Though joking thoughts aside, Gajeel's comment had brought about a new thought to his mind concerning a similar duo of red and blue that may actually pair up nicely. His heart constricted at the thought, but it was the honest truth of who a certain red head's destiny lies with and he had to face the fact like a man. The ice mage had to be prepared to let go and hand her off, not so much in a fatherly way but in a more of a caring guardian type of way as he had to entrust her happiness with someone else.

The raven haired young man was brought out of his thoughts when his pierced guildmate began to snap his fingers impatiently in front of his face. Gray batted his hand away naturally, but Gajeel had crossed his arms with an annoyed expression on his face at the way the ice mage was acting. It was starting to get depressing even for him and would rather see him fighting Salamander with a cocky grin on his face over the sorry excuse of self pity he was looking at.

"Stripper you've got to get yourself situated sooner or later, else I'll have to do it myself." Gray watched his movements, guarding himself just in case he threw a "get-your-act-together" punch, but was surprised when he gave a friendly pat on his shoulder as he walked passed him. "I'm gonna get some grub since I'm starving over here, so I'm gonna let ya do whatever feels right to ya. But make sure that you give the Rain Woman a proper apology face-to-face."

"You got it." The ice mage watched as the long haired man made his way through the different huts and tents before he was out of sight and Gray was left alone once again, or so he thought once he finally picked up on the faint traces of someone's magical presence.

"What's up with everyone hiding from me lately? You can come out Levy, I know you're around here." Gray said aloud as the petite bluenette emerged from behind a stack of crates, which were well grouped to create a good hiding place for her. "I'm sure you know the full story and all, but I just want to say that I'm sorry you had to go through a lot because of it."

"There's no need to apologize Gray, sure this kind of things doesn't really happen to just about anyone on Earth Land, but it was all an accident and you and the other guys tried your best to help us." Levy said kindly as she sat atop of one of the crates so she was eye level with the taller mage, but Gray felt like it wasn't enough to just accept it so easily. "We may have been subjected to the effects unintentionally, but that doesn't mean some of us didn't have fun getting to see and hang out with the real man beneath the ice."

"Heh...Guess someone found a shred of light in all of this." Gray responded sarcastically, but the petite woman had caught on to the slight quirk of his lip to understand that he was joking.

"Through sarcasm or jest, I still stand by my words that all of us had enjoyed our time with you Gray and I'm sure you've gotten to have some of your own as well." Levy said suggestively, but she also meant it sincerely and luckily Gray was able to understand both her meanings of them as he gave her a hearty smirk.

"Must be nice walking on sunshine." The ice mage commented and Levy folded her arms in rebuke to his claim in a playful manner, as she tried to hide the small grin trying to escape her lips.

"There's always space for you to walk on too, you've just have to get out of your ice castle more often." The bluenette replied, making Gray admire how far she's come in word play with him and maybe seeing a sharper tongue on her in due time. "Still, you've got to meet with the last few of us who are barely getting up. Don't worry, I thought ahead for your sake and separated them in different locations."

"Have you been taking lessons from Mira lately?" Gray joked as he was actually glad to have this small distraction to lift his spirits a bit before he rushed through the final heart-wrenching gauntlet.

"No, but it does sound like an interesting idea now." Levy replied as she hopped down from her seat on the crate. "Cana's enjoying her morning sitting under the shade of a tree in the village with a bottle of Devil's Kiss whiskey; it's legitimately called that and it's pretty strong stuff just by smelling it. Lucy's getting herself fixed up and will most likely meet up with Natsu and me sometime later, we'll most likely be somewhere you could easily get some private time to yourselves; I'll handle Natsu so there's no need to worry about him."

"And Erza?"

"She was a little harder to understand this morning based on how she acted, but she did say she was heading for the Moon Temple to have one last look at the island from up there before we leave." This was all based on how Levy believed things would go as far as the locations of her guildmates, but what happens after Gray meets them there is up to him.

"Thanks a lot Levy, helps to know where to go but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with." Gray sighed as he looked out at the mountain peak where he'd find his scarlet haired best friend. "I'd best head out for the Temple now, hopefully she doesn't punch me off of it in the end." The ice mage dryly joked as he waved his goodbye to Levy and made his way for the entrance of the village where one route of his destiny awaits.

 _"Just know that I'm rooting for you Gray, you'll do what's best for them."_ Levy thought to herself as she watched the retreating figure of Gray slowly begin to shrink as he made his way across the village and out through the gates. _"I know you will"_

* * *

 **A/N:** _It feels so long since I added one of these in, but in any case I'm glad you all finished the chapter and hoped you all enjoyed it. I'm mainly putting this in to give an opinion of mine or would it be a rant? Don't really know myself, but it mainly concerns what's been happening in the latest chapters of the manga although I won't spoil anything for anyone. All I'm gonna say is that after reading them and looking into the comment threads, since sometimes there are a number of funny comments in them, the negativity towards Gray had totally baffled me. Yeah I get that he does hold blame for some things that have happened and all, but it was so anti-Gray that the closest thing they reminded me of were the Lisanna bashing fics. Everyone's entitled to their opinion and I respect them, but it completely blew me away at the different reactions people shared about our favorite stripping ice mage._

 _I know nothing's gonna get done just by complaining about it here, so I won't and I'll see what happens in the next manga chapter. That's the end of my little opinion(or rant) so I'll let you all enjoy your night or day, depending at what time you're reading this really. Review if you liked it, didn't or even seen the threads as well, and the next chapters will have me trying my best to make them the best I've written. Till the next chapter, see you then!_


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

The mountain's peak gave the wondrous sight of nearly the entire island of Galuna, the gentle sea breeze making itself to the top of the ritual remains of the temple where nothing aside from askewed placed structures made up the entirety of the area. It gave a hauntingly eerie feeling that would draw you in just to captivate you with the idea of the many going ons that could have happened during the temple's active years. The beauty was a sight for sore eyes to anyone that wished to get away from it all and have a moment to reflect on their own thoughts, but being left to them was not what an armored beauty wanted for herself. It was on this exact sight that started a chain reaction that caused Gray to open up to people for the first time. A large step forward for him as Lucy had been around when he first began to speak about his past, even when she was a mere week old rookie mage at the time no less.

Erza stared out onto the expansive horizon of sea that continued on for miles, the familiarity of it coming due to her time in the Tower did not dissuade her from enjoying the beauty of nature and yet it was still not enough to rid the requip mage of her creeping thoughts. How could she allow herself to when the only things they would tell her was that her best friend cared so deeply for her that went above and beyond the limitations of a close friendship. She did not mean to eavesdrop on the conversation that Levy was having with Gajeel outside the tent they shared, but she could now only assume it was for her own good. The things that had been said had made the unshakable Titania quiver with embarrassment and could not find it in herself to think of her future interactions with Gray.

It was there at the peak of the temple that her memories became clear to her and no matter how much she wished to deny them, her own heart clenched in response of her trying to purge the memories away. Happiness was a virtue she believed everyone deserved, even if she wasn't on the receiving end of it at times, but when she was given said happiness her life had felt submerged in bliss. She quickly punched her thigh to regain control before she lost herself in the memories whose purpose posed to do nothing more than become irritations and reminders that her barriers are so dangerously weakened now.

Emotion was a strict subject that her past masters drilled into her to always have control of them; "blinded by them is the weakness a swordsman must not fall prey to" one had told her, but another had said; "A swordsman must keep to such ideals, but a knight must learn to wield them for the greater good of the innocent. Only then will emotion no longer become a burden to be cautious of, but a boon that will help you surpass any limitation," and right he was as Erza had become such a renowned mage because she used her emotions to protect countless of lives that had been on the line before.

It still didn't mean that she wasn't any less privy to the things young women her age fell into just because she was as tough as a mountain and sure hit like one too. In reality, it was the ones she hasn't been exposed to that made her falter and it didn't help anything now that Gray went beyond a glue holding her together whenever she was starting to fall apart to a person she'd entrust her very own shielded heart in their hands. He was always there for her and she's happy to have him in her life, but was she even ready to let herself be taken?

She ruffled her hair irritatedly as she was only going in circles in her mind as she had never came across a time where she had to choose where her future would go to. She always chose the path that had Fairy Tail's best interest and now it was if this would decide a long awaited fate destined to make a great impact in the life she knew so well. Erza was now angered at herself for listening in on Levy and then switched it over towards Gray for making her feel this way in the first place and later it would cycle through a few more people before it landed back on her.

The requip mage plopped herself down on a fallen support pillar, twiddling her thumbs in exasperation that she came to the temple to find some solace in order to keep herself leveled and now she was no better off here than if she was at the village. Erza let out a small sigh as her mind soon wandered back to a tattooed and blue haired man that was an important figure in her life as well. It was short lived as he slowly began to meld into another person who wielded his ice just as good as he hid his feelings. It shocked her how the resemblance was so easily recognizable, although there was the fact that one of them was several years older than the other.

"If choosing a man is this difficult, then why does Mira enjoy match making so much?" She muttered aloud as her head began to spin once again at the current question.

"Maybe it's because she loves doing it." Erza gave a small girlish squeal at the sound of the baritone voice that replied to her, which she was not expecting to be replied to in the first place, and spun on her heel to see Gray making his way towards her.

"Didn't think you'd get company up here?" The ice mage asked as he took a seat across from her, on a destroyed pillar with only a small stump of it's original height left to show for it.

"No...not really. I thought everyone would be much more interested being in the demon village to bother with my disappearance." Erza replied, finding the odd looking twig next to her boot much more intriguing than Gray. "I'm surprised you knew where to find me."

"Well Levy did tell me that you were heading here, so I just went with it and here I am now." Small talk would be inevitable if Gray was not careful and at this point he was glad that Erza was much more nervous about everything compared to him.

"She summarized my destination rather well as I only told her that I was going for a walk." The red head was not willing to pull out straws on this conversation and she couldn't lie that a part of her wished for Mira to tackle her in her Satan Soul and start a fight there and now.

"That's Lev for you, but what I'm more concerned with is...uhm, well...how are you holding up?" In truth Gray was just going with the flow and what happens, happens. He'd accept any outcome that would come his way.

"I'm doing rather well Gray, thank you for asking." Erza replied although a part of her was demanding to tell the truth, that it was her way of understanding what's happened to her and everyone involved. "Actually, I'm not so well."

"Care to talk about? We don't need to head back anytime soon, plus I've been told that I'm a pretty good listener." Understanding Erza's questions or her claims were two peas in the same pod, they are either very gentle and fine or they are death balls thrown at you if you failed to get a read on them.

Erza took this moment to stand, followed by her pacing back and forth in front of Gray as the red head tried to gather her words to outright tell Gray that there is something new in their friendship that needed to be addressed.

"Truth be told, I'm on the fence of wanting to keep you sitting there and wanting to shake you violently to tell me what is wrong with me." She began and the ice mage was already afraid of what she may do if she began to get physical. "A few weeks ago, I was busy trying to find the best armor type for a technique I was developing and now I struggle to find what exactly should I do differently to change my style."

"Don't tell me you are going through your "normal" teenage years?!" Gray exclaimed in a joking manner, but fell silent by the stare the armored woman threw at him.

"Joke all you want Gray, but I've never taken into consideration of what I would be wearing for the day. It was always my favorite armor breastplate, stylish blue skirt and trusty boots and now I struggle to find something "casual" and "cute" to wear." Erza was never one to be swayed by fashion as she found it as a waste of time, so this was actually quite the turn for her in Gray's opinion.

"It's all part of life Erza, sometimes some long held beliefs tear away and you want to try something new. It's only natural, so I don't think there's anything wrong with you." Gray replied to the best of his abilities, but he didn't really know how the female mind functioned much less after the past events.

"But there is Gray, I'm not doing this for myself. I'm actually doing it to impress...you." Erza slowly voiced out as she had begun to realize how many meanings her words had, turning to face somewhere else that didn't have the ice mage in the line of sight.

"Oh...well why try when you already have. I mean that you became S-class at fourteen, surpassed the expectations of countless of people and are the person I want watching my back in a fight." Erza was already hinting at things Gray was well aware of, but he wanted to play those off just for a little longer if only to become an unshaken wall for what's to come. "You've impressed me countless of times before Erza, so you really shouldn't concern yourself with clothing choices and besides have you forgotten I tend to lose most of them by day's end?"

"No as it is painfully obvious that everyone knows about that, it's just that amongst everyone in Fairy Tail...your attention is rather difficult to attain if you're not Natsu." The requip mage replied as it never seems to fail time and time again for the dragon slayer to rile up Gray into a fight that has him only concentrate on him before she had to step in to stop what fight they'd sooner or later start.

"I wouldn't say that would be an achievement, the pink haired dimwit just knows how to push my buttons is all." Gray could see how hesitant Erza was becoming by the way she asked her questions, wanting him to fill in the gaps she didn't want to say. "But I've been thinking that having a conversation with me isn't all that you want. So what's really been bothering you?"

"When will the day come when I will be the shoulder you get to cry on?" Erza softly joked as she knew how the ice mage was always being the tougher one of the two, emotionally wise, just for her sake. "I've been struggling about my realization of how much you mean to me and how much I want you around."

The red head waited in silence for Gray to reply to her, his face set in a neutral expression as he moved his gaze outward to the sparkling sea. It was a stretch to really ask him about anything concerning deep intertwined emotions, but he's grown so much as a person that he should have the capability of talking it out with at least her. That was actually a small hope Erza had for her best friend, but she felt a sense of security watching his stoic face in front of her with himself lost in his thoughts and yet aware that she was waiting on him. So when he turned to face her again, Erza slightly stiffened with attention to concentrate fully on what he had to say.

"That makes two of us." He simply replied and it was actually enough for Erza to have a fleeting surge of blood rise to her cheeks before being subdued by her will. "There's always been a part of me that was grateful for having you in my life and another part of me that felt lucky to consider you a close friend of mine."

"Oh...just a close friend, I see. Was there no other inclination for something further than that?" The red head bravely asked as she was sure most of the other women she knew would struggle to even suggest that to another man.

"If we're being honest here than...I guess you can say that it has crossed my mind before." The ice mage sheepishly replied, cursing to himself that he was there to finish up loose ends not dig further into this rabbit hole. "But they were on occasion since someone like you can do far better than a stripping mage like myself."

"I wouldn't say that, how many women get the chance at having a prince around to help lift their spirits when they are feeling down?" Sure that prince doesn't appear as often as one would think, but it's a nice feeling to know that he'd be there if you want someone to go to.

"Yeah well, I don't think you've really found your prince charming yet." He replied out of habit and wished he clamped his mouth shut once he realized what he just said, no doubt within him saying that he may have triggered something in Erza.

As he guessed it, Gray's prediction was correct as Erza's memories flooded back to her much more cleanly compared to when she tried during her listening in on Levy. Every moment she spent thinking of the ice mage, the numerous times she would glare at Mira and the amazing bliss she felt on their sort of date they had although she forced him into it. Yet one memory stood out the most and that was of the ravenette's hurt expression as she looked at him behind a barrier. Erza witnessed those eyes directed at her and she loathed the thought of Gray making such a face because of her, to which she tried so hard to deny that it was all her fault.

She immediately moved forward and held onto his shoulders, slightly squeezing them beneath her gauntlets, trying to muster the right words for the situation. Gray on the other hand was at a loss as he set himself up for this, now hoping that his resolve would stay as strong as his ice. They each held the other in high regard, but none of them was brave enough to actually say anything until Gray had finally decided to break the silence.

"There's no real way of dealing with this and honestly I was hoping to have more time, but it's best that I get it out of the way." The ice mage reached for Erza's gauntlets to get them off his shoulders, but she did everything in her power to keep them there as if it was her only lifeline. "What happened between you and me was all fabricated and if you want me to, I'll do what I can to forget everything that has happened."

Gray was soon met with the an increased amount of strength in the red head's grip and stood stunned to see what looked like distraught on Erza's face which completely threw him off of what he thought would go down. He stood to his full height, her hands not moving away anytime soon, but her features told the ice mage enough to know that she didn't take too kindly to what he said.

"How can you offer an idea such as that when you haven't asked what I thought of it first?" Erza tried to sound intimidating, growling the question out although it sounded like she was struggling to keep her voice together in Gray's ears. "Those are memories you and I share, ones that are strictly kept between us with no other intervention from our guildmates and yet you want to rid yourself of them?" Her tone was a mixture of anger, sadness and hints of what the ice mage could only assume as denial yet it didn't matter in the torrent of Erza's words.

"Do memories of me behaving such a way destroy the image of the woman who had impressed you as the Great Titania of Fairy Tail, not as Erza Scarlet; your best friend?!" That had surprised the ice mage more than anything as Erza had never outwardly acknowledged their close friendship, but he knew that it was an implied sort of thing, so her words held much more impact with him as she knows who she is to Gray before all the problems began.

"Do you hear yourself Erza? You are both one and the same, who you are is what matters the most to me and that is being Erza Scarlet; Titania of Fairy Tail and the one I'd give everything to make sure you would never cry again. I said that not because they destroy an image I have of you, but because I want you to go on with your life without the constant reminder of what I know." Gray had finally managed to get free from her grip and led her back to her seat, knowing that she needed to stay in one place before she got out of hand.

"Why do you choose to purge those memories of us together instead of keeping them, they are the few we share where neither of us are in shambles and in tears." Erza solemnly asked as most of her memories that she shared with him held one or the other being emotionally distraught seeking comfort in an equally broken person.

"You know I don't do things without a reason Erza, so I've got mine and I'm sure you've tried to get rid of them too, right?" The momentarily hesitation the requip mage had was enough for Gray to get his answer. "It makes it much more simpler on everyone if we do this, we're still going to be friends and whatever has happened will be nothing more than a figment of our imagination."

"I can't understand why you think this is the only option, why do you want to crush this opportunity at happiness Gray? I've known you long enough to understand that you aren't truly happy." The requip mage knew how boisterous he tends to be in the guild, but she could see that the true joy in his life was not as bright as others and has never been much brighter than a low dim since he was fourteen.

"It's because I want you to be happy with someone you do love and not by acquiring your love through some cheap trick. If I've got to be alone then so be it, if it means that you don't make a mistake with me." The ice mage was building up much more tension than he intended to, but he was still in control of the conversation and if he lost it then he'd have to improvise.

"Huh, why is it that the loneliest people are the kindest..?" Erza quietly asked as even when the ice mage has a chance of becoming something greater with her, he'd actually let her go so that the love she has is real and not artificial.

"The same reason why the saddest people smile the brightest, so that other people don't see their pain." He spoke about their mutual knowledge that behind their smiles lies a lonely and saddened person deep within. "You and I both know that we never thought of ourselves as more than just best friends before last week, so I'm taking the stand that we've been duped into liking each other beyond our friendship."

"No Gray, you're not being reasonable here. Sure we came together all through some incident, but that doesn't mean we can't work through it. Just look at the way we interacted with each other back at the Cromwell's cafe, no matter how awkward we became we just continued right past it without a second thought." It was actually puzzling to Erza that Gray of all people seemed to be having a one way thought process, compared to his usual open mindedness.

"And think how hard it will be once we realize that we are only compatible as friends and not lovers, try to see it in my eyes Erza; I've already gone through this once and I'm not about to do it all over again." The ice mage knew that the red head was fully aware of his past with Cana, so it would work in his favor that she kept up with his line of thought.

"I know you to be an optimist about a number of things, so why is it that you're already willing to jump the gun?" It made no sense that the young man went with the first idea he had, he didn't have a single tracked mind like Natsu's most of the time.

"It's because I am an optimist that I've looked as far ahead as I could and just know that my judgement is right Erza. Don't argue me on this since we both know that you don't have much in the way of experience with love." Erza's eyes widened slightly at the jab at her love life and didn't expect to hear that come from Gray, which only served to shorten her patience a bit more with the ice mage.

"My love life prior to this has nothing to do with us right now, alright? Refrain from mentioning it again and answer me correctly Gray." She tried to say it as calmly as she could could, but it sounded very close to an order and in this tense atmosphere that only seemed to be building, it wasn't a good idea.

"You have no experience with it as far as I know and mine are all terrible so it breaks even wouldn't you agree?" The irritated look in the woman's eye told Gray that he was starting to push her buttons. "Let's make this easier on all of us and agree that this was all a mistake, letting it die down on it's own with some time."

"For Mavis' sake, do you hear yourself Gray?! You keep driving this conversation into going in circles and to be honest, I am getting quite fed up with it already." If one could see, they would be able to notice a tick mark appear on Erza's head as Gray merely scoffed at her words.

"You're the one that is dragging this on, for once don't fight me on this one Erza and let's both get rid of these memories so that they don't have to loom over our heads for years down the road." The ice mage offered once again, this time a bit more sternly to the requip mage who responded with a vigorous fire in her eye.

"I can't agree with you on that Gray, can't you see that these memories are ones I want to cherish." She was taking a firm stance on this and Gray knew he had to start pushing back harder or else he would end up weakening to her words. "Is it so wrong for you to know that there is someone who, dare I say, loves you for the amazing person you are?!"

"Yes it is because you don't love me Erza!" Gray yelled back at her, he was patient enough for a while, but he was already starting to hurt and hated that feeling. "I'm not stupid, I'm well aware of where you tend to disappear to at those random times a month to meet with."

The requip mage was stunned silent when she heard that, Erza thought that she was doing a good job in keeping her rendezvous a secret from everyone. This was news to her and just by the tone of Gray's did she realize how long he must of known about it. The armored woman wanted to say something to refute his words, but she was well aware that the ice mage would pick up on her lying to him so in the end she decided to keep silent.

Her silence was all he needed for an answer, Gray had his suspicions and it was mainly a bluff he called her out on about it so he was partially stunned himself although he couldn't show it. She was her own person and a capable one at that, but the part of him that cared for her had always been struck by worry whenever she left to see Jellal. The ice mage had believed that others may think of him as overprotective in a sense, but that's they way he is when it came to the people he's close with.

"You meet with Jellal without anyone's knowledge, but don't bother to inform at least me just in case something happens?" Gray questioned and it surprised the red head when a look of hurt swiftly passed by onto his face before completely disappearing into a blank stoic expression.

"I'm sorry I don't tell you all the details of my private life Gray, but it's a personal matter that doesn't require your input." Her sarcasm wasn't lost on the ice mage, who was actually surprised to hear coming from the ever so serious Erza, but she wasn't quite done talking yet. "Besides, why bring him into this conversation when it is between you and I?"

"I brought him up because I know that you are in love with him." Gray strained to actually say that, while Erza had been stunned silent once again by his words and she feared how possible it is. "In all honesty, I had the oddest sense of knowing about it for a while now."

"Gray I...it's nothing more than..." Erza was having trouble to form a coherent sentence in reply of Gray's words, but her mouth decided to fail on her at that moment. "What we have is none of your concern, you could be wrong for all you know and I choose not to tell you that you're wrong."

"But I know I'm right and it does concern me when it was him that broke my promise." The dark haired ice mage balled his fists just remembering his own failure of what happened in the past.

"How could he have when you hardly interact with him?" The requip mage could tell that Gray was angry, but he had no right in saying that Jellal had ever made him break a promise. Although she was stuck between a rock and a hard place now as she had realized that she was defending the blue haired man.

"On that day at the river I promised to myself that so long as Fairy Tail stood, you were a proud member of it and I was still kicking that I wouldn't let you shed a single tear." Gray's voice grew louder as he spoke and he couldn't help himself as one of the other things he hated was failing. "Do you know how terrible it was when I saw you crying?"

"My apologies if that has hurt your pride Gray, but I've forgiven him now and so should you. Continuing to dwell on this isn't good for you and I'm genuinely concerned for your well being if you don't change your mind set." Erza felt touched by the way Gray was caring for her in his own way, but she was also worried that his anger would consume him like his regret for his master's passing.

"He's earned some of my respect, I'll give him that but how could I forgive him for what he did to you?!" The ice mage wished he could communicate his stance on this much better than with just his words, but he'd find a way to manage somehow. "He pushed you to your limit, made you a betrayer in your friends' eyes; he killed one of them right in front of you and nearly killed you!"

"I know he did! Do you think I'd forget something like that?!" Erza yelled back passionately as these were the things that bothered her from deep within and it seemed that Gray believed she forgot about them. "I could never forget what happened to Simon, but Jellal's doing his best to reform for his past crimes so I don't understand why you are being so pig headed about not trusting him when he's trying so hard!?"

"Because that's who I am Erza! I'm paranoid that if I don't pay close attention of the people I care about then they'll wind up dead, when there was something I could've done to prevent it!" It was a trait Gray never wished to show, but it was hidden in his character to worry about the little things that could take away those close to him. "Do you think it's any easier for me to come to terms with Jellal when you cried in anguish after that blue haired bastard was arrested!?"

"I thought the Jellal I knew in the Tower before his possession was gone for good, but when he started remembering the things about me that's when I felt that he was coming back!" It was raw emotion that Erza was pushing out, something Gray hadn't been doing since he started talking about Jellal which had begun to bother her for some time now. " **He** was someone I cared about like Uncle Rob so don't think for a second that it pained me to lose him for a second time, Gray!"

"Then just admit it already, you love the bastard if you keep defending him!" The ice mage would've said more if the cold hard slap from the red head's gauntleted hand didn't silence him first.

"I love him! There I said it, are you satisfied now Gray? It doesn't mean that I don't love you or any of our friends any less does it!?" Erza's raw emotion was already starting to pool tears in her good eye now and that alone told the ice mage that he was almost pushing her to the breaking point. "How could you be like this? I thought I knew you better than this, but this person I'm talking to now doesn't sound like the Gray I know at all!"

"Maybe you are right, maybe I wasn't actually in love with you after all and it was that forsaken potion ruining my state of mind." She moved away from him and turned her back away from the ice mage, completely dumbfounded with what was going on. "What was I thinking; how could I have fallen in love with such a...a...a selfish asshole!"

"Glad to know that you agree on not actually being in love with me." Gray sarcastically replied to her, lifting a hand to cool down his now stinging cheek. "Think of me in whatever way you want, I wanted to do this calmly but to hell with that now! I came here to tell you that whatever romantic possibilities between you and me would never be realized."

"You what?" This time she turned to look over her shoulder to see that infuriating stoic face Gray still wore even if he winced in pain slightly as he rubbed his cheek.

"You heard me, we will never be anything more than just friends and I don't even know if we'll be that too!" There it was, the look of total angered astonishment on Erza's face was the sign that Gray needed to know that he managed to get on her bad side.

"Then everything is just the way it should be, I can't believe that I was so troubled about how I would ever talk to you about this when it really wasn't going anywhere." The requip mage turned her head back to look over at the island, leaving the ice mage to talk to her back. "If this is who you really are, then give the girl who would even bother to put up with your thick headedness my condolences. Unless you're too prideful to do that request for me?"

"Fine I'll do it just for you, Tin Can." The dark haired young man noticed the slight falter forward she had done to know that he pushed a pretty hard button. "When you're done being too good to look at me, get to the village before we have to depart or wait at your pirate buddies' ship for all I care."

Gray turned his back this time to her and stalked off, already feeling Erza's anger as he started to walk away and knew that he successfully got the requip mage to hate him slightly. With each step he took, a part of him felt like it was breaking at what he had done to his best friend or acquaintance. It depended on what happened after today or even in a week really as this was Erza he was talking about.

In any case, he did everything in his power to walk strong and true down the peak of the temple and back towards the village. No matter how serious or emotion dulled he became, there was always that stinging sensation in his heart that fully knew that Erza was shedding tears for the things he had said. Jellal may have broken his promise at first, but now as he drudged along it hurt him much harder knowing that he was the one to make Erza cry. Was all the pain he was placing her through really worth it?

"It was..." Or so he would tell himself, just to feel remotely accepting of his actions.

 _"I had to be harsh, it was the only way of getting through to Erza. She's just too important to let her cry because of a broken heart, but now I need to finish this while I'm ahead."_ He thought somewhat confidently, although he knew that the only person he could easily speak with about his decision wasn't going to be Cana. _"I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but will it be alright to deny Cana something she longed for as well?"_ It was a difficult question placed upon his shoulders that soon became a burden of how much this meant to Cana, until a random pang pierced his heart.

The sudden sensation was like an indicator to him that Erza was in emotional distress and all he could do know is keep moving forward.

 _"I told you Erza, I don't do things without a reason. I hope you realize what I was trying to do one day, but my stance about that blue haired punk was the hard truth and I'm genuinely sorry we can't agree about it Erza."_ Gray thought solemnly as he used his actual opinions about the blue haired man she held dear to become the worst possible person to her, bordering on ruining their friendship as much as possible.

 _"Hopefully, you'll forgive me too."_

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 ** _A/N:_** _I am so inconsistent with my updates, but I had thing's piling up so I had to get some priorities sorted out although I'm glad I got to finish this chapter for all you wonderful readers. Hopefully I manage to update this fic much sooner because I feel bad that I post a chapter once like every month compared to how I did in the early stages although we are about 95% done at this point. I hope to see you all at the end of this and glad that you enjoyed the chapter. Enjoy the rest of your day or night and don't be shy to review if you liked it, didn't or are in the middle. See you in the next chapter!_


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N:** _It's almost over, insert sad face, but it was inevitable from the start. In any case I'm happy to know you all are along for the ride and for the comments here and there too. Here's a chapter for all of you wonderful readers and I hope you enjoy it! Happy Holidays to all of you as well!_

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Chapter 32

How hollow, how disconnected must one be to break the heart of a woman they've cared about for a good portion of their life? A question Gray kept repeating to himself as he continued to make his way towards the demon village's huge gates with a few hundred yards left between them. Why can't the clenched feeling in his heart loosen up every time he reaffirmed to himself that he only acted like such a douche bag was so that breaking things off with Erza would be simpler.

That was a lie actually, he knew exactly why it was constricting in on itself.

He acted like a complete asshole to Erza to deny any relationship forming between them, but there was no doubt in his mind that his red headed best friend knew all along. She played along for his sake, going through the motions of what he was laying down with his words and that was why it hurt more than it should have. The requip mage understood what he was doing even before he stopped talking to her and the tears she was shedding were those of understanding the underlying meaning to them although they still broke her heart.

Bonds that are created by the very essence of love; whether romantic, friendship or otherwise can be easily felt piercing the very being in a person. Gray wholeheartedly believed this and could allude the jab at his heart once he was climbing down the temple's side to it, as his bond with Erza ran deeper than many would believe. The ice mage stared down towards his right wrist, a silver necklace wrapped around it with a shield pendent slightly hanging from it and the memory of that night when he was first given it began to echo in his mind.

 _ **"Well...I bought you the necklace because...it's a way to express what you mean to me." It was Gray's turn to give Erza a curious look as she began to look everywhere but at him. "To tell you the truth, I t-think of you as my shield; one I can go to for help to defend me against the pains I suffer."**_

 _ **"I'll do my best to stay that way and remember what I told you over there," Gray had pointed to the spot where for the first time saw Erza crying near the riverbank, "you're not alone anymore."**_

 _"I said that, but the only thing I did was go back on my words and betray her!"_ Gray thought angrily as he punched a nearby tree in his anger, leaving an indentation of his fist on it once he moved on. _"I was her shield that protected her against the pain she walked with and now I use it just to break up with her."_

He hated himself for doing something so underhanded as that and as much as he regretted doing so, he knew that there wasn't much he could do to change what he's done. It was at this moment that his mind decided to add a little more of that memory for him to remember.

 _ **"But I must ask, why did you wrap it around your wrist?" Erza asked with a wondering look on her face, most likely wondering why he didn't put it over his neck alongside the sword necklace.**_

 _ **"That's simple, this is the wrist you used to flip me over your shoulder the first time we fought. Plus this will be the side you can lean on and the one that will pick you up when you are down." He replied as she gave a small chuckle at the his oh so suave moment and a part of him felt elated at hearing her laugh."**_

 _"How much of a hypocrite am I at this point?"_ The ice mage wondered to himself, barely realizing that he now stood in the shadow of the massive reinforced gate to the demon village.

"Woah there Gray! Do you want to face plant on our gate that badly, some of the girls here still want to show you what a demon's passion looks like!" One of the guards called down to him jokingly, as the mage looked up to smirk at him in reply.

"Just enjoying the architecture a little and if you guys wouldn't mind, could you open the gate up for me?" Gray replied and was met with an "O.K." gesture from one of the guards before the entrance began to open and the ice mage walked forward casually enough as not to arouse anyone's curiosity.

So far things look as normal as could be since he left, but who knows how long that'll last once he speaks with the last two girls on his mind. He sighed tiredly and tried to locate a suitable area that Cana would've taken residence at for the mean time while they were at the village. If Gray remembered correctly, Levy had said that the brunette had taken a bottle of Devil's Kiss whisky and found a nice shaded tree to relax under. The ice mage was about to head off in search of the more shaded areas of the village until Lulu had appeared before him, looking slightly troubled about something.

"You alright Lulu, you like a bit tense." Gray asked the demoness in her human form, who struggled a bit to form her words correctly until she finally found them.

"Do you know if there's someone experiencing great amounts of sadness, fear or anger?" The raven haired demon asked and Gray slightly flinched at the word sadness, but tried to play it off as best he could.

"Hmmm nope, can't say that I do. Why, is there someone like that around here?" Playing as clueless as possible and it seemed to have worked as Lulu merely shook her head.

"No, there isn't anyone like that here although many of us know that someone's pushing waves of negative emotion on the island." She replied and the ice mage was rather curious to know how the demon girl and quite possibly others know about it.

"Do you guys have a sixth sense for these kinds of things?" He made sure that he didn't sound like he was making fun of them or anything, but was confused as to why Lulu looked away rather embarrassedly.

"I'm ashamed to say that we do, we demons can sense when negative emotions spike throughout the island or wherever we may be. Our bodies naturally absorb those emotions to gain power, but we haven't had the notion of using the accumulated power for anything." She explained and the dark haired young man was intrigued to know that piece of information, agreeing with the fact that you learn something new everyday.

"We like to consider ourselves as Earth Land's negative filters as we take it upon ourselves to absorb the negative energy so it is not gathered in anyway for malicious intent. Although the pain we've been gathering from whoever the mysterious person feels very, how should I say, heartbreaking in a way." Lulu sighed quietly, she herself worried about the person expelling the large amount of negative emotion. "I must be off Gray, the chief and a few high council leaders will soon decide on how to deal with the accumulated energy; sorry for taking up your time." The dark haired demon bowed politely before walking away towards the meeting tent.

"No problem.." Gray called back, although he was unsure if she even heard him and yet he couldn't bother to dwell on it any further. "I've got to find Cana..."

The ice mage searched around for the drinker and realized that given the situation of what's been happening, she was most likely in a secluded part of the village enjoying her whisky and that's where he went off to. The village had grown a bit larger now that he was looking around and found it a little harder to find his way compared to the first time he came here, but it wasn't long before he could hear the sounds of cards being shuffled together. Gray was no fool to know who was using cards with the smell of strong whisky in the air and an irritated sigh that followed after.

Rounding the corner of a storage hut, the ice mage was met with the sight of Cana drawing out her tarot cards beneath a shady tree, on top of a small crate with a bothered expression on her face. As for the scent of whisky, that came from the opened bottle next to her although it didn't look like she hadn't even taken a sip yet. He watched from afar a bit longer to see her flip her cards over and growled in irritation once again before reaching for the bottle, only to place it back down and start to gather her cards again. This is when Gray decided to make himself known and watched her for a moment as the brunette eyed him wearily before leaning her back against the trunk of the tree.

"Looks like you're back from wherever you ran off to." Cana said tiredly, giving out a small yawn at the end and placing her cards back into her fuzzy purse.

"Yeah...I had something to deal with back at the temple. Surprised that you care to know where I went actually." Gray placed his hands into his pants pocket, taking on a more relaxed approach although he planned on working their conversation in the same manner as the one he had with Erza.

"You really shouldn't since a lot of people in the guild wouldn't be able to go home without me telling them where their keys went. I look after them just as much as they do for me, sometimes a little more depending on who it is." She replied, scooting over slightly to give him some sitting room but Gray had decided to stand instead. "Besides all I need to know is that you're alright, it's good enough for me so long as you're able to come back home."

"At least you still have confidence in me, not much else you got going for me." He snarkily said and watched her expression for any changes in her mood, yet he couldn't even see a twitch to her eye.

"That's not true, you've got my friendship and isn't that what matters most to you?" Cana's voice was even with a small hint of sarcasm laced thinly in her words, but Gray kept his calm demeanor so is to not fall for whatever she had planned. "You made it very clear about you doing what's best for us years ago or did you forget?"

"No I didn't, at the time it was what I believed to have been the best for us and I think it still does even today." Just like the card mage, the ravenette's reply came as calm as he could get it to be and yet the former had still yet to show any signs of indifference to his words.

"Hindsight is twenty/twenty, so you're partially right and it also means that you're wrong too." She once again deflected the ice mage's words and her laid back attitude didn't seem to be fazed by any of the things he said. "Gray, we can go all day with this. I was the one who taught you how to steer conversations to go your way, remember?"

At that, Gray had nothing to say to her and realized that she was well aware of what he was trying to accomplish in their conversation. It wasn't a lie that Cana taught him how to manipulate a conversation and he should've known better than to try it against the same person who was like a master in this field. Though that didn't mean he wouldn't still try to win, something most people knew he'd like to do.

"You sure did Cana, but you couldn't get Gildarts to listen every time you tried to talk to him." Now he was rolling out the punches on her, but he slightly frowned when the only thing she did was whistle in mock amazement.

"Wow, didn't think you'd start with the low blows so soon ice boy." A small twitch in his eye was all she needed for a sign to now that she already won. "True, I couldn't get the old man to listen to me when I was little, but it's pretty much the same now except this time he doesn't listen when I want him to leave me alone from time to time."

"I distinctly remember telling you that I hated that nickname." Gray slightly growled out and immediately regretted not giving himself some time to cool down as the brunette gave a small victorious smirk.

"I got under your skin, so that means that I win." The mirth in her voice would've fooled anyone, but Gray focused on her amethyst eyes that twinkled with understanding. "No matter how much you try Gray, you'll never get me the same way you did with Erza."

The ice mage's eyes shot open at the statement and couldn't come up with a way to counter it as his calm exterior was crumbling under her knowing gaze. Aside from Levy, no one else was privy to information of his actions after he left the village and knew that the blunette wouldn't oust him to anyone. He stayed in silence trying to figure out how the card mage knew about his conversation with Erza until he thought back to what she had been doing earlier.

"Through your cards..."

"I was able to foresee the events that would happen between you two, always the same outcome for the seven times I did it." Cana had picked up where he trailed off and did her reading once she noticed Gray leaving the village, after picking up the Devil's Kiss whisky when she got wind of it of course.

"And that's why you didn't drink the whisky?"

"Yes and no." She answered in turn although Gray still remained in the dark. "I picked it up as a souvenir for myself, but didn't want to take a sip until I finished doing my readings. It messes it up if I drink even a little."

"I get that they helped you figure out what happened between her and me, but why was it that you were still using your cards for what I can only guess as after everything went down?" Cana's answer made sense to him, her readings haven't been wrong yet although he couldn't wrap his head as to why she continued doing her readings.

"When I finished with yours, I couldn't lie that it gave me a little more hope that I would be the one you chose, but the cards made sure to dash those hopes." She replied, tapping her fuzzy purse with a rueful smile on her face. "I got curious and did a reading for us, finding out that our relationship would stay as a platonic one for a while."

"Then you understood what I was trying to do before I even showed up." Gray said as more of a statement than a question and had to admit that he was outdone by her abilities this time.

"It wasn't that hard really, you're a pretty good actor so long as the audience doesn't know the plot beforehand." She replied, throwing a card directly at the ice mage who expertly caught it between his middle and index finger.

"I guess I still got you mad if you're willing to attack me already." He looked down at the card and was surprised that it was actually a photo of them four (eleven chronologically wise due to time skip) years ago.

"One of the few pictures you were willing to take, the one I own is one between me and the boy I fell in love with." Cana noticed the bob of Gray's adam's apple and knew he swallowed thickly at her words. "As much as people would say, a person will never forget their first love."

"So why do you want me to see this?"

"Because it shows that I still thought about you even after we broke things off, Gray." The brunette answered and retrieved the photo back from the ice mage's hand. "You've told me how much I've changed, but you don't realize how much you've changed in my eyes."

"Would you mind enlightening me then?" The ice mage still stood next to her, his hands feeling clammy in his pockets and waited for the card mage to continue as she lifted herself from up off the ground.

"For starters you grew colder to people, you place yourself in the line of danger more often than not, you try to come off as an uncaring prick when you're very well the opposite and this list could go on." Cana began and her words had already stunned the young man in front of her which left him speechless so she decided to continue.

"Then there's also you trying to take control of a problem all on your own instead of asking for help, becoming too bull headed to listen for someone else's input and unable to let someone get close enough to see the real Gray that is actually connected to that guild mark on your chest." As she said this, the brunette moved closer and poked at his dark blue guild mark twice before getting their original distance again.

"Well I'm sorry if I couldn't stay as that love struck boy forever, but circumstances pushed me into becoming the Gray you know today." The ice mage retorted and Cana merely harrumphed at his words defiantly.

"Apology accepted, it was partially my fault you became this selfish prick I see standing in front of me." The look of astonishment on Gray's face gave away the fact that Cana had struck a sensitive nerve. "It's true Gray, you are being nothing more than selfish."

"How am I being selfish!? I'm doing everything I can to make sure your lives move along from this!" He wouldn't say it out right, but the ice mage knew very well that Cana was already riling him up and was sprinkling salt on old wounds on purpose.

"Selfish in the fact that you are doing what **you** think is best, instead of asking any of us what we think!"

"It's because I love you too much to let you all get hurt because of me!"

They were lucky to be in a secluded area of the village for the two Fairy Tailers were causing a scene and their fuming anger allowed the truth to be spilled. It was out in the open for Cana to see that Gray cared too much for their happiness that he wanted to make the harder decisions for them. He on the other hand couldn't care about it anymore, bottling it all up was only angering him and at the same time washing him with a wave of sadness of why he was truly doing this.

"Cana, you brought along an emotion that I could never have imagined myself being capable of feeling again; love for another person. Erza showed me that I can protect someone as the person I am against a formidable opponent; one's own sadness. You two are far too important for me to lose and I can't allow either of you to leave my life." Gray truthfully admitted to the card mage, sure he may have said terrible things to Erza but the ice mage knew she had figured out his plan soon after.

He wouldn't expect Cana to agree with what he can now call flawed logic if it was his way of making sure Erza stayed a part of his life, so when she teared up with a smile on her face it completely threw him off. She gave a few short laughs of happiness as the tears continued to stream down her eyes and the ice mage couldn't figure out what was happening right at that moment. It only further confused him when she embraced him tightly, Gray feeling all her strength as she squeezed him with all her might.

"N-Now there's the Gray I fell in love with!" Cana finally said although it wasn't a good enough explanation for Gray who was still trying to wrap his head around the current events. "The headstrong ice mage that cares too much. No matter what obstacle stood in your way, you'd still strive for the best outcome."

"And the same one who's about to break your heart all over again." Gray solemnly whispered as he stood rigid in her arms, but it only served to make Cana hug him tighter. "Compared to so many other people, I can never understand you; I didn't back then and I still can't now."

"Sure, you're breaking my heart now after so long of not feeling in love with someone else but I've got hopes for the future." Her cards had expressed that their relationship would remain platonic for now, but they didn't specifically map out the later future. "It hurts far worse than the fights I've been in, but heartbreak is a part of life. No one is ever going to go through life without heartbreak and the same goes that no one can go living without it..."

"Because it's a sign that you're living your life with emotions." Gray concluded, those were the same words the aging master had told to him once he noticed the sudden change in his behavior. _"Looks like Gramps spoke to you too..."_

Words couldn't begin to explain how much Gray was beginning to feel like he was doing more damage than good and he was tentative to go any further. Then again, words were nothing more than troublesome as so much could've been prevented in his lifetime if he took the time to listen. Gray gripped his hands into fists as guilt began to settle in for how much he messed up, no those words were too kind for what he did. The ice mage knew he did more than that, he fucked up royally and the conviction he had earlier evaporated into thin air with a single thought of trying to fix everything all over again.

His angered daze was driven away as Cana's gentle hands, one's that Gray hadn't realized of being because of what she can do, held one of his fists between them. She caressed it gingerly until he finally released his grip and the brunette brought his hand up to cup her cheek, leaning into it with a sad smile on her face. All other thoughts within his mind froze then to look at Cana attentively and his heart constricted at the familiarity of the sight before him. One that came from a happy time during his youth, before he found other joys to try and fill the hole left from it once it was ripped away.

"Don't think I don't know what's going through your mind Gray," Cana began as she looked up to his dark eyes with a tenderness that caught the ice mage's next breath in his throat, "I know that there's guilt trying to plant itself in you, but know that there isn't anything you need to be guilty for."

"Of course there is, how could I allow myself to treat Erza so harshly and try the exact same thing with you?" A sad thing about Gray that the brunette had learned about so many years ago was that he was quick to let himself develop a guilty conscious, even if he shouldn't be doing so.

"Just by the fact that you acknowledge your mistakes proves that you don't need to worry about guilt. Yes, your method of handling the situation was not a sound one, but you felt it deep within your heart that letting go was the right decision." This time Cana raised a hand to the ice mage's cheek so that he kept his focus on her.

"If it was so right then why do I feel like a peice of shit, even now when you're trying to comfort me?" The anger in his eyes were reflected off of Cana's and he knew that he directed all of it to himself, in which the card mage wanted him to also let go of.

"It is the same feeling when we broke things off the first time, all of this is the same case but with a different backstory to it all." The talk they were having was not one between Fairy Tail's Drinker and All Around Stripper, but between the real Gray Fullbuster and Cana Alberona. "We should've had this conversation back then, but I guess later's better than never."

"Why did I ever let you go?" Rhetorical of a question that it was, Cana gave a small light hearted scoff as she laid her head against his chest.

"Because we were a pair of stupid kids too scared of facing the future." She soon answered and this time Gray gave a small accepting grunt at that answer.

"But are you really fine with me going through with this?" The ice mage was given a new sense of clarity and now he felt uneasy destroying something that was rebuilt between them just because he "felt" like it was the right thing to do. "There's so much I'm taking away from you again and it doesn't sit right with me in doing so."

"What kind of idiot would be okay with this?" The brunette questioned back as she pinched his arm, eliciting a yelp from the taller ravenette. "But this is your time to grow on an emotional level and so I've got to shut up and accept it."

"Glad to see you're being mature about it." Gray joked, but the enthusiasm and mirth had both been subdued by the heavy atmosphere that was around them while in each other's arms.

"You should've known that it wouldn't last forever, like I should've..." Cana had whispered the last bit to herself in sadness seeing as the happiness she had going on in the past few weeks had been short lived. "Just do me one last favor will ya?"

"Sure, name it. It's the least I could do at this point."

"Let me stay in the arms of the boy I fell in love with for a bit longer." The card mage buried her head within his chest as her underlying feelings were becoming overwhelming and allowed herself to finally cry again in his embrace. "Here's something to m-make you feel a little bit better."

"I'm all ears." Gray knew Cana was crying and if he had to be honest with himself, he would be too but he had to be strong with his new perspective thanks to Cana.

"Back then, when I was still a young girl, I was planning to take you to meet my mother." A silence befell them with the exception of Cana's sniffling, for Gray knew how special her deceased mother meant to Cana. "I wanted to tell her that I finally found that special person who was meant for me."

Cana released Gray, but the ice mage placed both his hands on her cheeks and wiped away her tears with his thumbs looking at her with what she could only describe as the tender eyes of a lover. His next action had surprised the card mage as she had not seen it coming from him especially as she thought he wouldn't be able to do it. He kissed the top of her forehead lovingly and gave her a meaningful hug before picking up his coat from up off the floor and stood with an air of determination that had attracted her the first time to him.

"When you can, please tell your mother that I'm sorry I couldn't be that person for you." The ravenette said with the minute tones of regret in his voice as he looked deep within her amethyst eyes. "I've still got one last thing to do, so this is where we go our separate ways for now."

Gray turned his back to leave, only getting one step in before Cana's hand gripped at his wrist tightly and he in turn gave a glance behind him. At first he could see that the brunette seemed tight lipped about something, something she seemed to be struggling to say and was about to ask what was wrong before she ultimately spoke out.

"Gray when you see her again, please look after her with everything you've got." She cryptically said and the ice mage was rather confused, coming to the conclusion that she was talking about Erza.

"What do you mean? We'll see Erza soon enough and I know she'll be able to handle herself just fine without me, especially now for that matter." Gray replied, but Cana shook her head at his words and didn't understand why he was wrong.

"You'll understand in time, so please promise me that you'll do it." Cana knew she was holding back an important secret she discovered from her cards, but the ice mage had too much to deal with as it is so she was set with giving him a cryptic heads up.

"Don't worry about it Cana, I promise I'll do it. You've got my word come Hell or high water." Gray replied waving goodbye one last time before he walked off back to the main area of the village, no doubt in the card mage's mind to find the last person he was planning to see.

As for said mage, she watched the retreating figure of her beloved ice mage walk away from her as the brief ignition of their once failed love petered out and was blown out once again. So it was no surprise to her when a fresh new batch of tears had welled up in her eyes and finally began to stream down once she blinked, using her forgotten crate as a place to sit for the meantime. As she watched the last bit of Gray disappear behind another hut, Cana thought back at his apology towards her mother for his inability to be her destined partner.

 _"Don't worry Gray, Mom knows how sorry you are from where she's watching over us and I'm sure she still knows that you'll be my special person in time."_ She thought sadly, picking up the the also forgotten Devil's Kiss whisky and pulling out a shot glass from her fuzzy purse. _"Plus she'll still be watching over the little bundle Gray and I brought into this world thanks to your brethren."_ She mentally added looking down at the dark colored whisky bottle.

Still that was a tale kept secret between a select few, a choice she looks back on and would always think of what her life may have become if she was prepared. Cana shook her head feverently as it was only going to cause another wave of depressing thoughts and sadness to wash over her when she already felt terrible as it is. Her cards have already shown her the near future for them all and she'll keep faith in both her cards and Gray to shape out what lies before them and everyone else they knew. With her thoughts set, the card mage looked back at how far the ice mage had come and felt a new sense of pride swell within her at showing him that he could take a much greater approach to this.

Despite it all, Cana poured the Devil's Kiss into her glass and reclined herself once again in the shade. She took time to appreciate the brew the village demon's had made and soon raised it up into the air in the direction Gray had gone in.

"We've had a rough ride, but I'm truly happy to know that we made the best out of it. We'll both get our happy ending one day, so here's one for that future yet to come." She toasted with her tears still left in her eyes, but her happy smile still plastered on her face before she downed her shot.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The time was now, the ice mage had gotten through the main gauntlet of people he cared too much to hurt but did it anyways. He was already at the end of the emotionally heavy filled road with a single person left to speak to and although nothing would really change from their past, it gave Gray a sense that his decision would be easier to handle. He couldn't see the error of his method before he spoke to Cana, but he knew he had to toughen up and apologize to two people now once they made it back home. Though he knew life back the guild would be much more awkward for some time to come before everyone puts this all behind him, no doubt some more than others.

As he walked through the village he noticed his fellow guildmates who were trying their best to get over the ordeal of the previous night, some still trying their best not to say anything of what they believed they remembered. Mira and Laxus were talking with each other quite seriously, Gray knowing that the stories for both S-class mages coincide with the other and would surely give the other person a different point of view to this potion mess. Evergreen was still looking rather mad with Elfman and the poor muscled man was still confused of what he had done to gain her ire if the ice mage had to guess. Luckily the others, along with Lyon and Toby, struck up conversations about some sort of topic and were enjoying a bit of lunch for themselves as the demons were still one of the kindest hosts Gray has met.

It was when he met eyes with Gajeel did he direct him in the direction of the group of three with vibrant hair colors, consisting of blue, pink and blonde. The ice mage nodded his thanks towards the iron dragon slayer, who Gray had no doubt was well aware of what he was doing; even if only by a fraction of the truth that actually was happening. Before he was in range of the group, it was Natsu that turned his attention towards the approaching mage and took on a more pensive stance of whether or not he should regard him first. Luckily the decision was made for him as Levy had called out to him to join them, but what he didn't know was she had a plan already set in motion.

"Seems you guys are enjoying the afternoon." Gray said once he was well within earshot, but noticed the nervous looks of not only Lucy, but Natsu as well.

"Yeah well we're trying to make the most of showing up randomly on Galuna, so we're making it a small vacation trip." Levy said in response as Gray took a seat next to her, facing a non-attentive Lucy who was looking at almost anything her peripheral vision would catch that was not in the direct line of sight towards Gray.

"I don't like relaxing this much, I rather be back at the guild getting a job or something." Natsu decided to add something to the conversation and was slightly glad Gray was going to reply to him directly.

"No need to worry about that Flame Brain, I'm sure we'll be getting back to the guild pretty soon. All we need to do is get a boat trip back to the mainland and a train ride to Magnolia." Gray emphasized on the words of vehicles enough that Natsu was feeling queasy at the mention of them.

The ice mage was satisfied with the end result and it told him that Natsu had no lingering effects within him, immediately chalking up his previous look with only his form of confusion. The dragon slayer on the other hand had actually been confused as to why he wanted Gray to reply to him if he was only going to annoy him in turn. On to Levy's view of all this, she knew that the small talk wasn't going to last forever and she needed to get the ball rolling now that Gray had finally arrived, so she sent her silent message towards the iron dragon slayer that had been looking over at her table ever since Gray had began walking to them.

It took her a few tries to make her message clear as Gajeel simply looked at her strangely from what she was signaling to him, until he realized that she was talking about Natsu. He had some ideas of how to draw his fellow dragon slayer, but they mainly involved fists and knew it wasn't the best idea to start any fight in the village. He couldn't think up of anything useful until a demon villager had brought some more food to a nearby table that his guild mates were sitting at and finally came up with an idea.

"Oi Salamander! Bet you can't eat as much of this demon cooking as I can!" He called out with a mixture of a challenging and cocky tone and wasn't surprised by the results as the pink haired slayer stood up to his challenge.

"You bet I can! Bring it on Metal Face!" Natsu immediately got out of his seat as he marched pridefully towards Gajeel's table, knowing that no one could surpass him in an eating contest especially with his track record of eating twenty-seven full course meals made by Mira.

"I got to make sure those two don't knock each other into food comas, someone's gotta be there who isn't cheering for them to get another bowl." Levy said as she stood up abruptly already turning to leave, but stopped as Lucy called out to her.

"I'll come with you, you might get your hands full with Gajeel so I'll deal with Natsu for you." Lucy suggested secretly pleading to the blunette not to leave her alone with the ice mage, but her hopes came crashing down when the petite girl looked at her sternly.

"I can handle myself pretty well Lucy, stay and keep Gray company while I'm gone. I'm sure you've got plenty to talk about." Levy called back as she made her way towards the circle that was beginning to form around the dragon slayers who were preparing their gullets for the eating match of the year.

Lucy was dumbfounded that Levy would leave her to the shirtless wolf sitting across from her without a means to defend herself. Plenty has happened over the course of two weeks and her blue haired best friend has already told her enough of what's been going on that her memory seemed to have forgotten. She was beyond embarassed with herself to say the least and was in no way ready to speak to Gray about all this, but even Loke had come from the Spirit World to egg her own into a talk with the ice mage. Her own nervousness was soon drowned out as the baritone voice belonging to the aforementioned shirtless mage began to ask her a question.

"I'm I really that hard a person to talk to?" Gray asked as Lucy began to wave her hands sporadically to disway his thought of him being difficult to communicate with.

"No no no, it's not that at all. It's just that I was left alone with you all of a sudden and I was just blinded sided by it is all." The blonde replied, but she nervously played with a pigtail as he looked confused at her words.

"So it's just me in general that bothers you then?" A follow up question that got an immediately response, but Gray couldn't get an answer from Lucy as he gave a short chuckle before she said anything.

"Geez Gray, stop teasing me already! You know I don't do well under pressure." Lucy whined as the ice mage subdued his almost outburst of laughter and regained his composure with a slight cough.

"As much as this was a nice distraction, there's something I want to talk to you about." Gray said as he stood up from the table, waiting for her to follow him as she merely looked at him with doe eyes. "Well come on, this conversation is for our ears only so we need to get some privacy."

"Oh right, I'm coming." The blonde replied as she quickly followed after the ice mage, noticing that he was picking his way through a number of places where the crowd's cheers seemed to have grown stronger.

* * *

In the Celestial Spirit World, Loke was already feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles as this was the big moment he was waiting for. A number of his fellow spirits were already up in arms against him and what he allowed to happen to Lucy last night, but was lucky to have the support of Aries, Capricorn, Taurus and surprisingly Scorpio too for his Plan B. Needless to say that there was a large amount of friction within Lucy's spirits of how she was treated and the strawberry blonde had decided to lock himself inside the Grand Hall. All the tension and build up was for this moment as he watched the events unfold on Earth Land.

This was where Gray would finally admit that he loved Lucy and she would respond with her being in love with him too, now giving her the chance at her own happy ending. All of his hard work, the time constraints he had to deal with and the rebellion his fellow spirits had against him for what he allowed to do was for this moment in which two people he's cared about come together as one.

He could already see it happening right before him; the two will be inseparable until the day Gray pops big the question, soon followed with his beautiful master wearing an Aries exclusive wedding dress and he as Gray's best man. Aquarius will outright congratulate Lucy, saying that she is indeed happy for her and somewhere down the line a new celestial spirit mage is going to inherit their keys from their mother. Loke was drawn out from his fantasy as Gray began speaking and decided to get himself comfortable for the upcoming good news, knowing that he'll jump up in sheer joy that in the end everything had finally turned out good.

"I'm sure that Levy's told you about what's happened with Juvia and the rest of you, right?" Gray had asked and Lucy nodded her head, which Loke couldn't really fault her for as this was her first conversation with the ice mage ever since she was back in her right state of mind. "Good, is there anything else she told you?"

"To be honest, there was plenty of embarrassing things that I have apparently done and am in no way ready to say that I'm proud of them." The blonde replied as she looked sheepishly down to her boots, although Loke was pleading her to keep eye contact even if she couldn't hear him.

"Well, this whole potion business has done some incredibly embarrassing things to a few others, so I wouldn't say you're alone in that regard." Gray replied reassuringly, trying to make Lucy comfortable with the fact that others weren't feeling alright with what has happened either.

"Glad to know I'm not the only one." She said cheerily although the strawberry blonde spirit knew that his master was feeling something at that moment, apprehension maybe? "Umm, I don't know how to say this right Gray, but I'm sure there's more about this conversation that you're not letting on."

"Perceptive as always Lucy and you're right, I haven't really gotten to the main point of why I wanted to talk to you in private." The ice mage put his hands in his pockets and Loke was getting antsy with the way the ice mage was simply dangling what he wanted to hear like a carrot on a stick in front of a hungry rabbit. "The real question though is if you want to really know what I want to say?"

"Some discoveries aren't made if you don't take a leap of faith from time to time, so yes I do want to hear what you have to say." Lucy bravely replied as a content smile grew on Gray's face and Loke was gripping the edges of the seat he pulled up to the screen of how close the ice mage was finally going to confess.

"And there's the response from the daring Lucy Heartfilia that I wanted to hear." Gray replied as he leaned against the wall of a hut, the blonde beauty herself seemingly growing nervous at how casual the ice mage was becoming after her words. "You remember that night on my balcony under the stars right?"

"Yes I do, even the part when you...confessed to me." Lucy said as her cheeks began to flare with pink and Loke was lowly giggling like a schoolgirl at how the blonde's reaction was a surefire sign that she knew what was going to happen next. "And the things that you needed to take care of too."

"Yep, I did say that I need to take care of a few things and I really have. Although the thing that always boggles my mind was that after all that I got through, I wondered what you ever saw in me." Loke knew that Gray always questioned the things that didn't make sense to him and the lion spirit couldn't lie that he was aware that the ice mage was still unsure of Lucy's interest in him.

"There's plenty that I saw in you, given that it happened gradually because my attention was...elsewhere." The busty blonde replied and Loke knew that this was her chance to really tell Gray what she really sees in him, that she too can see the real Gray underneath his cold exterior.

"Yeah I know what you mean, but if you wouldn't mind could you tell me what those things are?" The ice mage asked and this was a test that Loke developed himself when out on the prowl with Gray, deciding what girl was truly into either of them or which will become the spirit's conquest.

"Well, you've always shown a sense of trust with me even when I was a mere rookie, like I was someone you've known your whole life. No matter what danger was in front of us or if I was in trouble, you were always there even if Natsu was always the forefront of attention. You may think you're simply in the background when Erza and Natsu are around, but I know that you are what keep us together." She replied and Loke had to admit she was doing fine so far, but if she said anything generic then it would begin creating red flags. "And even though the first thing you said to me when we met was to give you my panties, I had a feeling that you and I were going to be good friends albeit it was a pretty small voice back then."

"Really, I thought I put you off with this weird habit of mine and all the fighting I do with Natsu." Gray replied as Lucy dismissed his words with a a few waves of her hand as she was signifying that it wasn't the case.

"Sure it was weird at first, but it was what makes who you are since it was something you picked up from your master. If it wasn't for that reason, you would've trained yourself not to strip, Lyon actually told us that's what he does." Her explanation actually surprised Gray from what Loke could tell and it was pretty interesting to see his blonde master put a reason behind his stripping to this day.

"And sure it drives me a bit nuts when you two fight, but like I said before it's what helps keep us together. Without you around who knows what would happen; Natsu would be too antsy and filled with energy to keep up with, Erza would try some of the more drastic measures to make sure a job is done or a mission must be completed no matter what and I'd lose my mind having to deal with it all alone." Lucy added as it was because of Gray that Erza didn't do the irrational thing of cutting off her arm when she was poisoned by the snake Cobra owned when they were fighting the Oracion Seis.

"I guess I do play some role in our team dynamic, but I wonder what role I truly play to you aside from a buffer between your sanity and the unruled behavior of Natsu and a bit of Erza." Those had been good answers on Lucy's behalf, but the lion spirit knew that they still were a little far off from the main question Gray had asked her.

"I've met a number of people that have their uniqueness, but not one of them are like you Gray. You make yourself out to be a simple ice mage with a basic concept of living like Natsu, but you are way more complex than that and the way I'm still learning about you proves it." Lucy answered him as the ice mage's very own personality had yet to be flushed out in her eyes compared to the others in the guild and Loke knew about this very well. "And I want to be one of the very few people who knows the real Gray Fullbuster, not the one you let people see everyday."

"Makes me happy to know that Luce, but I guess I didn't spend so much time with you after I confessed to you though." Gray replied, Loke knowing that the ice mage was so busy with everything else that was going on around him to realize that he left Lucy out of the whole equation. "Maybe I wasn't cut out to be this person you see if I can't even make time for you."

"That's okay Gray, even I had to do plenty of things so it's even if you ask me." How sweet his master was being to Gray in Loke's eyes as she even admits that he was not the only one at fault here. "But I want to know what you saw in me, I mean I've said a lot of things before about us and well Juvia was much more open and honest about you then I was."

"The difference there was that I didn't like Juvia the way I did to you, sure it was a small attraction at first but it slowly turned into something more than that." Gray replied and this time Loke was cheering on for Gray to elaborate, wanting to see his master blush furiously at his words. "You've accomplished a lot more than most of the people of the guild Luce, ever since you joined things have been different for me."

"I think that's a given Gray, I mean there are a few things that have happened when I joined. Phantom Lord being one of those and I don't think that was a good one." She replied, but Loke had to very strongly disagree with her as she has done plenty good for others with him being one of them.

"You can't take the blame for that one, that guild was looking for an excuse to fight us and a request to take you back by any means necessary was all the incentive they needed. But aside from that, you've actually made me feel happier in the guild." Gray had countered her previous claim smoothly which the spirit was proud of as this was the quick recovery he taught him how to do followed up with a bit of flattering which in this case was making the ice mage happier.

"Are you sure about that? You looked happy the day I joined and I guessed that's how you were most of the time." Loke couldn't blame her for that since it was a fair assumption, but the ice mage was like a master at hiding his feelings from others.

"You said so yourself that you wanted to know the real Gray Fullbuster and not the one I want people to see, which after a while you knew that I was putting up an act." It was these things that the Zodiac leader knew only through careful observation of his guildmates which took him months, but took his master a few weeks. "Luce, you've got to pride yourself with the knowledge that before a few days ago you and six others were the only ones who knew my past."

"I don't think I can pride myself for knowing what happened to you Gray, it still makes me feel terrible for what you loss before you made it to Fairy Tail." In all honesty, Loke knew bits and pieces of his past which he filled in the gaps with inferencing about his behaviour and what information he could gather. "I could never think of myself being able to sympathize for your loss; I was like a princess back home and left it all behind but you were just a regular boy who couldn't control what was going to happen on that fateful night."

"And even then you tried your best to comfort me about it, so I think you still tried your best to be someone I could lean on even though I had too much pride to do so." Gray said with a thankful smile and Lucy's rosy cheeks turned a shade darker in response. "But you want to know what I see in you so I'll do just that." Gray added as Loke realized that Gray drove the conversation away, just like Lucy did, from the main question.

"R-Right, I did ask for that and I guess everything before..."

"Was barely even a snippet of what I want to say." Gray continued where Lucy left off and the blonde kept quiet from there. "There's plenty of generic bullshit I could say that even you've heard dozens of times, but remember that what I tell you is purely Fullbuster truth."

Lucy nodded her head in response and Loke was becoming giddy at the prospect that Gray was going to lay it thick on this. The ice mage was, in Loke's eyes, infamous for flirting when they were on the prowl and knew that he had to speak the truth as he gave his name's seal of authenticity on this. The spirit was actually hoping to see his old wing-man back in action since he dropped out ot the scene with him after some incident that happened a year prior of Lucy's joining.

"Let's see, you have the biggest patience of anyone I've met who has also met Natsu, but that doesn't stop the pure heart you have that tries to do what is best for her friends. Luce, you've got the aspirations of someone who has the makings of an author and yet the spirit of a brave mage ready to stand against a dark guild." Much of Gray's words were what Loke could tell her himself, but was still holding out to see if the ice mage still has some more in him. "No matter what obstacle that's been placed in front of you, your independence makes you stand proud of who you are and though it's sometimes naive of you, you follow that big heart of yours with the people you love well guarded in it."

"Is that all...?" Lucy asked as she was becoming bashful of the words Gray was saying, though what Loke didn't understand was that it was Gray who was truthfully saying these things that were making her feel this way.

"No it isn't." Gray replied as he stepped closer to Lucy as he held her chin up with his thumb and index finger to look up at him. "Out of all the people who have ever met me, it was you who had managed to melt the ice over my heart again."

Lucy face flushed completely red now as Loke could've sworn he saw steam escape the top of her head from the screen and began laughing like a mad man at how Gray literally swept her off her feet just then. This was it, Gray had finally set the mood and all he had to do was say the words and ask her to be his. Unbeknownst to him, Virgo had managed to find her way inside the Grand Hall to find out what Loke was doing as the others were occupied with one another outside and was confused by her leader's behaviour. He had been acting like her Princess when she talked about the ice mage with Levy, except the strawberry blonde was watching them on the large lacrima screen. She too began to watch what was going on from behind a pillar, making sure he didn't know she was there and looked on curiously as the scene continued to play out.

"G-Geez, didn't I already tell you not to tease me!" Lucy backed up as fast as she could, the sound of her heart beating her ears rather loudly and tried her best to calm herself down, but Virgo knew that it was a tactical retreat. She couldn't survive any longer if she stayed there even for a few seconds more.

"Sorry about that Luce, I just want to lighten the mood a bit. It gets awkward when you tell a close friend all those things and try to make sure you don't cave in from sheer embarrassment." Gray admitted which was nice on his part from Virgo's perspective, but Loke merely blew a raspberry at his words calling him the derogatory name for a cat for not following through like the way he taught him. Virgo was not amused with Loke.

"Close friend, huh? Nothing more than that?" Lucy asked sounding a bit dejected and Loke kept his mouth shut for this, the pink maid dressed spirit noticing how he was on the edge of his seat now.

"To be honest, no there's something more I want you to be." Gray replied and Virgo began to hear Loke continuously chant "This is it! This is it!" over and over again as he rocked back and forth in his seat. "Luce I...I want you to be mine..."

 **"HE FUCKING SAID IT!"** Loke cheered at the top of his lungs as he really did jump up from his seat in great satisfaction that it was all a success as he laughed joyfully that his friend finally committed to his master.

"Gray..." Lucy said and Virgo continued to watch the event unfold as Loke then turned to look at the screen as well, but the maid spirit looked slightly concerned judging by the way the ice mage's face looked.

"But I know I can't..." Gray finally said as he dropped his gaze from her face as Lucy was shocked by what he had said as well with her eyes opening up in surprise.

"What?!" Loke and Virgo had simultaneously said and the latter was glad her voice wasn't as raised as the strawberry blonde's, who began to glow with anger at the latest revelation.

"W-What do you mean Gray?" Lucy asked worriedly as she hadn't expected the ice mage to actually deny forming a relationship with each other by himself, which goes double for Loke and Virgo as well.

"You are special to me Lucy, you brought the warmth needed to melt my frozen heart, but this heart will only betray you." Gray replied as this now piqued the interest of the two spirits to see where he was going with this. "You deserve someone that will only love you, that will always have their heart set out for you, but my heart goes out to both Erza and Cana too."

"I guess even I couldn't compete against those two." Lucy ruefully said and Loke was already beginning to feel her sadness, already preparing himself to force open his gate into Earth Land.

"No you're wrong, you had an equal chance as them, but I'm afraid that my feelings for them will only interfere with the ones I have for you. You three are special and I couldn't even imagine living without either of you there with me, so until I can make sure that I can devote myself to only you, all I can say is that we'll still be apart for a while longer." The spirits could tell that the ice mage was being genuine about this, but Loke was more angered of the outcome and before Virgo knew it he was already storming his way towards the entrance of the Grand Hall.

* * *

Gray faced Lucy with as much determination as he could, doing his best not to let himself regret his decision and stand by it. The blonde celestial mage was an amazing person that he was more than glad to have met, but if his heart wasn't set to only think of her then it was like cheating in his opinion. Like he thought days before, how was he going to commit to a relationship with her if his heart would make him think of the off chance of what might have happened if he chose one of the other women instead.

"I know what I've decided to do, but your opinion matters to me too and I'll listen to what you have to say." Gray had taken Cana's advice and decided that he had to really listen for once, if only for her now that he messed up with Erza and failed with the card mage.

"I just...I just didn't really see this coming." Lucy replied as a part of her had actually believed that this would be the true ending Gray was seeking in being with her after all that he's been through. "To be honest I thought this was going to be a "happily ever after" moment between us."

"If I wasn't such an idiot with my feelings than it might've been." The ice mage had been surprised that she was taking this rather calmly, maybe he underestimated her for once. "I'm sorry that I've made you feel terrible, but if it'll make you feel better then you can go ahead and hit me. Can't say I haven't been expecting it all day."

Gray closed his eyes and was preparing himself for one of her deadly Lucy Kicks, but wasn't expecting the hard fist to his cheek that stung sharply as the whole fist followed through to knocking him into the ground. He held his cheek soothingly, caught off guard by how hard Lucy could punch although when he looked up at the blonde, he was met with angered glow of Loke as he stood over him. Now the spirit wasn't someone the ice mage had expected to hit him, but if this was what Lucy wanted then he wouldn't complain.

"You're damn right you should be sorry! Lucy's been dealing with enough as it was and all of it was just for you to let her down!?" Loke raged as he thought Gray was much smarter than this, that he should've realized that his blonde master was the girl for him. "I helped you fix everything, showed you that she cared for you and this is the thanks we all get!?"

"Would it be fair to her if I thought about another woman while I was with her!?" Gray retorted as he got up from up off the floor, now knowing that Loke did this himself and Lucy had no intention of summoning him.

"It wouldn't, but you'd at least try to make sure she was the only one for you!" Loke shout back as he charged Gray with a Regulus fist and the ice mage quickly dodged him, forcing the spirit into a grapple as they both weren't going to allow the other any form of dominance. "I even gave you my blessing to be with her!"

"I never needed it in the first place!" The ice mage and the spirit did their best to try to trip the other up, while also making sure that they stood planted into the ground without budging an inch. "You as her spirit would want someone faithful for her just like all of you are to her."

"Open Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" Lucy shouted summoning the black and white cow from the spirit realm as he stood next to her. "Taurus grab a hold of Loke and don't let him go."

"Sure thing Lucy." Taurus said although he was reluctant to go against his leader, but knew that Lucy was trying to defuse the situation before it really got out of hand.

"Let go of me Taurus, let me at this asshole!" Loke began squirming in the bull's grip, but his fellow spirit wasn't loosening his grip anytime soon and made it tighter the harder he fought to escape.

"Sorry Loke, but Lucy wanted me to do this." He replied as their blonde master stood in front of them both.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do Loke, but you're being a massive idiot!" Lucy shouted causing the strawberry blonde to freeze in astonishment, his previous escape attempts halted as he stared at her. "I'm a grown woman and I can make my own choices myself. I thank all of you for looking after me, but this is my decision of what happens next, not yours."

"But Lucy, I..." Loke didn't finish his sentence as she turned her back to him, the Zodiac leader understanding that it was all she was going to say to him.

"Gray, you and I don't have such a long history with each other, but if you really are serious about wanting to be with me then why don't we start by making some memories ourselves?" Lucy said as she tried to muster a smile, but the ice mage knew that she herself wasn't satisfied with this either. He knew that she was actually hurting a bit with simply waiting on him to really come around to see only her.

"If this is what you truly want then we'll do just that, but know that I don't want to tie you down. If you fall in love with someone else, then by all means find out if they are made for you and I won't stop you." Gray said and Lucy along with her spirits looked at him understandingly, knowing that he wanted her to find someone for herself if he failed. "I'll take it as I was just too slow and my chance of trying is over."

"Then hope no one else sweeps me off my feet." Lucy said with her usual pep, although it was slightly forced as the end result of all this wasn't what she or anyone else had expected for that matter. "Now I want you two to go back home, I don't think we'll be needing you guys for a while."

Both spirits nodded their heads and began to fade away in a gold shimmer, Loke still held in Taurus' grip as they finally disappeared. This left Lucy and Gray alone again, no real sign of trying to make some sort of comment coming from either of them until Natsu had appeared rushing behind a hut. Both mages glad that the pink haired slayer was running at them with a gleeful smile on his face to distract them from what had happened earlier.

"There you guys are! I beat Metal Face in the eating contest!" The pink haired slayer cheered happily as he drew closer to them, but now he realized that he didn't know why they both were alone together. "Why are you guys even here in the first place?"

"Nothing that concerns you Flame Breath, now let's head back to the others. I want to see how sick Gajeel looks now that he tried beating you when it came to food." Gray said as he was the first to make his way in the direction that Natsu had came from, but the slayer wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"Hey Luce, what really happened here?" He asked innocently and the blonde tried her best not to feel dejected with what did occur between them.

"Just Gray showing me a new ice technique he developed, I think he's planning on fighting you with it." Lucy replied as she knew that he became easily distracted with the idea of fighting Gray, especially when the ice mage would make a new ice making technique.

"Well he's got another thing coming once we get back to the guild if he tries to even think about using it against me." Natsu said confidently as he knew that he would melt the ice mage's ice away before he even touched him with it. "You got to tell me what it looked like later okay?"

"Sure thing Natsu, I'll tell you when we get back to Fairy Tail." Lucy replied and Natsu grinned widely at her for her help, but the blonde felt a knot in her stomach at the thought of going back to the guild.

 _ **"I don't think things will be the same for a while now that this potion is gone for good."**_ Lucy thought as she knew the awkwardness that would ensue whenever someone tried to talk to Gray or even the ones on the island for that matter. The blonde beauty only hoped that with time, their bonds would be repaired and think of this as an interesting memory to look back to sometime in the years to come.

* * *

 **A/N:** _I'd like to thank you for reading this chapter and hoped you enjoyed it, but looks like the next one is the finale. I'll also add in an epilogue, (maybe?), if there's more that I want to add in after the end. Enjoy the rest of your day and hoped to see you in the conclusion of Emotion Potion and an Ice Mage, bye!_


	34. Gray's Bittersweet Ending

Chapter 34

Levy tried her best to sooth the iron dragon slayer's pain of having to try and match Natsu's bottomless pit of a stomach as she, in a way, brought this upon him. Not many people could say that they were able to match the pink haired slayer in an eating contest, but Gajeel tried his best to be that one such person. It didn't end well for him as he lost on his twenty-fourth serving and Natsu beat him with twenty-nine, almost thirty if the iron dragon slayer didn't throw in the towel when he had enough. The blunette felt pretty sorry for Gajeel as she could tell he was trying his hardest not to expel the contents of his stomach behind a hut nearby, but was still grateful for his sacrifice nonetheless. She only hoped it was enough as Natsu went off to tell Lucy and Gray the good news that he had won, but she worried if he caught them at a bad time and may have ruined something special.

Her curiosity was soon answered as Gray was making his way over towards the them, a casual smirk directed to the suffering dragon slayer and the solid script mage couldn't tell anything from that. Following close behind him were Lucy and Natsu, but her blonde best friend didn't have that gleeful hop in her step that she was expecting and fretted over the idea that Natsu had intervened somehow. The blunette's only indicator that things were somehow fine was that the pink haired slayer still looked happy over his victory, Gray was acting as normal as could be as he walked up alongside them to pity/mock Gajeel and Lucy wore a smile for Natsu as he relayed the past events of the contest.

"Maybe I should've warned you ahead of time that there hasn't been a person that's lasted long enough to beat Natsu when it involves food." Gray said as the iron dragon slayer glared up at him, grabbing a hold of his stomach as he was sure that he couldn't look at another dish for a while.

"I knew Salamander had a stomach on him, but that it was a bottomless pit had slipped past me." The long raven haired man said as he let out a small groan as his stomach was fighting him to empty it out. "You definitely owe me for this one."

"Thanks for your noble sacrifice, I'll treat you to some fine steel one of these days." Gray said lowly to him, patting his back in a friendly matter as Natsu was making his way over towards them.

"Getting pitied by the Ice Princess, huh Metal Face?" Natsu snickered at the look Gajeel had thrown at him before turning abruptly and ran off holding a hand to his mouth. "Looks like he couldn't keep it in after all." The pink haired teen began laughing uncontrollably at the desperate slayer who was trying to find somewhere to throw up, but the ice mage merely sighed at him.

"Let's go make sure he's fine Fire Freak, you're partly to blame for not taking it easy on him." Gray said as he followed after the nauseated slayer and the fire dragon slayer let his laughter die down before he too followed after the ice mage.

Now that all three of them had gone, Levy immediately rushed over to Lucy as she noticed the downcasted look on the blonde's face once both her teammates had finally left. Levy had really hoped that the busty blonde would squeal in joy for what she imagined happened between her and Gray, telling her the good news about her new relationship though it didn't seem like it was the case. Lucy went off to take a seat at a nearby bench and the blunette followed after her, sitting right next to her and slowly took her hand in hers. It was a full minute of silence before the celestial spirit mage let out a tired sigh and Levy took this as her chance to finally bring up the blatant question in the air.

"Tell me what happened, I'm here for you." Levy said as she offered a reassuring smile and was met with a thankful one in turn.

"Thanks Lev, it's good to know that I have someone to vent to." The blonde replied as she took a moment to collect her thoughts as she was still trying to make it as sensible as possible for what they had decided to do in the end.

"Can I at least make the guess that it's "the end" with no "happily ever after" before it?" Judging by the way her blonde friend's shoulders slumped, Levy was positive she hit the nail right on the head.

"And the grand prize goes to Levy McGarden for getting the right answer." Lucy sadly joked as the blunette gave her a sympathetic smile to let her know she was still with her and got her message. "I think it was too much to hope for him to actually pick me in the end, but I guess we'll just be friends for a while longer."

"I don't think it was too much to hope for, maybe it was just a stretch since he's a bit too hard to understand." Levy offered as in the end her best friend was still single and nothing really changed, although in a way plenty has changed. "You tried your best and that's what counts in the end. Gray's been through alot and I think he just needs things to die down before he can even think about seriously making you his girlfriend."

"Kind of backwards don't you think? I mean, usually it's the girl that would need time before they get together with the boy." Lucy said, but her experience of this had actually come mainly from the things she's read although this time she had gone through it for the first time and like she said the roles were reversed.

"True, but are you really going to wait?" The blunette didn't think of Gray as an indecisive person, but it would probably take time for him to get a handle on the past events then again who wouldn't. "No disrespect to him, but I think it's a bit unfair to make a girl like you wait."

"That's what I don't know on what to do, he's a good guy underneath all that cold hard exterior though you do have a point. I'd agree with what you said, but he thought about that too and isn't really tying me down." She replied and the solid script mage hadn't seen that one coming, thinking that the ice mage wasn't one to let go. "He said so himself that if there was another guy out there that would make me happy before he finally came around, that I should just go ahead and find out if they are my match. No hard feelings on either of our ends if it really happens."

"Selfless to another level from what I've seen of Gray, but I've got to admit that he's a keeper for taking your happiness above his own, amongst other things about him." Levy understood that the ice mage would do anything for his comrades, but what she didn't know was the extent he was willing to go in a number of scenarios.

"Yeah well it's too bad I can't realize that need to hold onto him since we're going to be single for a while, but I hope not for too long." Lucy dejectedly said as she placed her chin upon her propped up hand as the blunette patted her back reassuringly.

"Don't you worry since it will happen, trust me." Levy gave her a supportive smile and Lucy couldn't help but feel her spirits brighten up at her words.

"Thanks Levy, time will tell but I can manage just fine." The blonde beauty replied as she looked off towards her friends mingling about, wondering how the others had taken the news themselves. "Does anyone else around us still want him?" She asked as the main reason they were on the island was to make sure they didn't.

"Nope, everyone's back to the way they were and don't even get me started with how embarrassed they are when they try to think about it." Levy said, remembering how Mira acted when she asked to think back on her memories and tried her hardest not to make herself out as one of her match make participants.

"Loke's plan worked in the end, but I think Gray's still angry with him for using Moon Drip as a last resort." Lucy said as she thought back to how the two fought when Gray denied making her his girlfriend. "He took it much more personally when Gray called us off."

"Can you blame him? Just like all your spirits, he cares alot about you and wanted you to be happy." Levy said as she has seen the loyalty her spirits devote to her before whenever she fought alongside them. "I'm sure he was just stressed out with helping Gray fix this."

"I don't doubt that," Lucy replied as she let out another sigh as she watched Gray speak with a bored look on his face at Natsu who was still laughing at Gajeel whose backside was the only thing visible, "I just wanted to be there for Gray, like someone he can talk to about this. Make him feel like there's someone he can go to that will hear him out, the real him that's hurting."

"It's okay Lucy, just being around him and treating him like the friend he's been to you is enough support for him right now." The petite girl was sure that having his friends around him has a good effect when he's feeling down and she'd trust that having his team around him will help keep him happy.

"I'll keep that in mind" The blonde knew where Levy was coming from as even at his lowest moments, just with her and the team around as his friends there would always be a smile on his face. That genuine smile would be enough for her and it was what she wanted to see from the ice mage now that he was honest with his feelings. _**"A smiling Gray is always better than a broken one.**_ _ **"**_ Lucy thought as the looked back to all the memories they made where he worried for her or even laughed with her, which in turn brought a smile on her face despite the heartache she felt inside.

* * *

It was much later in the afternoon when Cana had been stopped by Gray and asked to follow him after she had rejoined the group of guildmates hanging around, the ice mage not giving any sign of what he was up to and merely followed him towards her previous secluded area. She watched him curiously as he paced back and forth for a bit before sitting down beneath the tree with an annoyed sigh. The card mage now knew just enough to guess that her close friend had done something he felt pretty stupid of doing and was seeking out her guidance to tell him if he made the right choice. Given that at this point his belief of a wrong choice might not necessarily be wrong, she knew it still troubled the raven haired mage quite a bit since a lot was revolving around him.

"So do you want me to congratulate you on your new relationship with our bubbly blonde friend or should I tell you that you messed up again for not listening?" Cana offered as her box was still in the same place she had left it and decided to take a seat while the ice mage struggled to get his words out.

"Probably the second one if anything." Gray finally answered as he sat on the ground beside her, placing his head into his hands as he was utterly confused. "I followed through with what I wanted to do, but I made sure I listened to how Lucy had taken it and yet I feel like I should've gotten with her."

"Didn't think that the Great Gray would be reduced to bitching because of girl problems." Cana sarcastically said as she was met with a glare from the troubled ice mage and merely giggled that she got him with it. "Down boy, I was just kidding and besides you followed your heart this time and listened to another so you shouldn't question yourself so soon."

"But I've got no idea what I'm doing at this point now. I've already placed four relationships on the rocks as it is, with more that I'm not even aware of still." Gray complained, he came seeking the card mage because she's much wiser than others are lead to believe although he wasn't so sure if she had anything to say on his current predicament. "Couldn't you have told me what I should have done before hand?"

"Fuck no I would, why would I tell you how to get with another chick when I'm still in the race for you?" The brunette said with minor surprise that her former lover would think she had completely given up for the time being. "I told you all that you needed to know; nothing more, nothing less. This is your time to grow and you can't have someone lead you by the hand."

"Listen to me Gray, Lucy's too much of a good person to not understand how you feel. Hell, she gave me such a morale boost to not quit the guild if I failed the S-class exam before we got trapped." Cana began as the raven haired mage didn't know Lucy had done that for the card mage, though he knew it wasn't impossible for her to do so. "The Ocean of Sadness only needs some words of explanation to fix her, while Erza will be a fortified fortress for a few months with what's happened, but you can easily infiltrate it no problem to bring her back out. As for me, I've got pretty thick skin so this doesn't hurt me as much."

"You're such a liar." Gray commented and Cana raised an eyebrow in wonderment to what he said, giving off a reserved sigh as she looked expectantly at him. "I might not be able to understand you, but I know that this is affecting you just as much as the others."

Cana gave a meek smile at how he had caught her and wondered how they would've been if he was this observant years ago, a question asked too many times for her to count. He was right either way in the sense that it did bother her, but for a different reason than what he could be thinking of. Cana loved him much more than she was expressing and seeing him happy would be enough for her to last a while, so seeing him acting so helpless didn't sit right with her.

"Guess you got me, but I'm not asking anything from you. You and me are still on the same footing, only this time our problem is resolved with nothing holding us back aside from you having to come to terms with things." Cana cherished the past, but there are some things she was willing to let go of and the day she and Gray parted was not going to be one of them.

"Whether it's a good thing to say this or not; I wouldn't have it any other way." Gray gave a genuine smile in turn at seeing the ever so forward Cana he had come to know.

"Good and for future knowledge, don't make me a rebound or else I will Fairy Glitter your perfect ass and I'll even ask the First Master to let me." The card mage jokingly said, but Gray knew that she would make good with her threat since she would be that determined to pull it off.

"Nice to know someone's noticing it and here I thought I lost, what Loke calls, my "eye candy" appeal." The ice mage replied in a similar manner and knew that Cana was able to pick up his understanding of her threat.

"It's hard not to when you're half naked most of the time." Cana replied, punching his arm in a friendly manner with a wish of having this last forever somewhere deep inside of her. "But I'll help you out this one time," The brunette began as she stood up, stretching her back as she rose, "I say you should go and talk with the other girls; I know you don't want to speak to Juvia, but the sooner you get it over with, the better it is for everyone and Erza's a given as to why."

"Well as it stands now, that fortune teller I met was right." Gray commented to himself with a noticeable hint of annoyance, although Cana immediately was interested when the ice mage had mentioned another fortune teller.

"Are you going to other tellers behind my back? My cards and I have been pretty accurate for a while, so I'm wondering why you went to see some ametuer instead of me?" The brunette was slightly offended that the raven haired mage didn't believe in her tellings, which she took the utmost of pride in, and went to some random person for insight of the future.

"Who said I was? He was some random dark mage I came across when Lucy was barely a rookie in our guild for a few days, crystal ball and all if I remember correctly." The ice mage was aware that many people went to Cana to have their fortune's told, but if you went to someone else after seeing her then she'd get pretty pissed about it.

"So what did this _ametuer_ tell you?" The brunette wondered what unspecific things he told him, as they tend to say ambiguous things that most people can agree with to believe it as their future. They give actual fortune teller's like herself a bad name.

"According to what he could see in my future was that I would have problems with water and women." Gray recounted as he already had some experiences with water, namely Juvia and to an extent his master Ur, and the women bit was pretty obvious by now. "I should've taken him a bit more seriously before elbowing him in the face."

"Tch, I could have told you that, but it's too late to cry about spilled milk now so get going before you run out of daylight. Those two won't wait forever and the guild would benefit once you deal with it." Cana said as she tried to push away her anger since the fortune came true and her anger was baseless, although the look Gray now donned didn't sit right with her either.

"You're right and if I die; you keep my necklace." Gray morbidly joked, but it was more to ease himself in with the idea of speaking to them than anything.

"And here I thought I'd get your house." She joked back, but a part of her knew that if, Mavis forbid, he were to lose his life then she'd follow his final wish like it was akin to a will he was ready to write up. To add a bit of a sarcastic afterthought, she still tried to figure out how Gray could destroy a mood so easily. "Still, something as special as your sword necklace is just as good for me and I'll accept it with an open heart." Cana knew this arrangement come from the heart and so she'll take it that way as well.

"Like I said before, I wouldn't have it any other way." Gray then stood up as well, knowing that the clouded area near the port town was where an "Ocean of Sadness" was residing at the moment since the rest of the island was experiencing clear skies. "You guys'll probably be on the boat back to the mainland before me so don't wait up, I'll get a ride back somehow."

"Don't worry about it, I'll tell the others." The card mage replied as the ice mage gave her a nod before walking off towards the entrance of the village for the third time that day.

Gray walked with a number of things on his mind and one specific thought was his quick vocal will he gave to Cana which was much more accurate to what he'd truly do compared to writing it down, even if it wouldn't happen since the worse thing to happen o him would be Erza beating him into a pulp and have the inability to sit right for a month.

Though his final words with Cana, before he told her to go on without him, held a much more deeper reason then one would think for him giving up his greatest treasure of his mother's cross pendant. It took him some time to figure it out, but he finally understood what Cana meant when he had to take care of " **her** " when he saw her again. This individual was a secret kept between them and Porlyusica and who was actually the next in line to the Fullbuster name, so if he moved on before they ever saw each other again then he could rely on Cana to pass down his pendent to her. Though a long shot in itself, he knew that the girl would find her way to Fairy Tail somehow so it would be just a matter of how one would react to seeing their daughter for the first time after so many years.

He allowed those thoughts to disappear into the back of his mind as he followed the worn path directing him towards the the port town's entrance before it opened outward towards the forest. He had to deal with a saddened water mage for she herself was no doubt causing questions as to why clouds were overhead when the rest of the island had sunshine. The ice mage would tough it out when speaking with Juvia because he trusted Cana's word and knew that he could help the water mage by just talking to her. So here goes nothing, knowing that the only thing he'd lose would be a friendly bond he shared with her.

* * *

Juvia gazed out at the sea with downcast eyes, picturing her old fantasies of having a home nearby one with her beloved Gray. Their home would act more as a retreat when they wanted to take a break for she couldn't think of parting with the guild to live somewhere else, full knowing that the ice mage wouldn't want to do so either. These fantasies would stay as they are now, failing to realize that reality Gray was very much different than fantasy Gray.

The water mage herself was merely sitting on a comfortable bench on an extended pier that held a number of small vendors, entertainment for the children and a decent place for fisherman who didn't feel like going out to sea. She watched as families hurried along through the streets in fear of possible rain that the water mage knew wouldn't come as her mood was very much connected with the clouds, but she wouldn't let a drop fall now. She'd done enough crying in the forest to tire her out and she wished not to inconvenience the nice port people with her rain. So all that was left were dark gray clouds that represented her equally sad mood now that her attempts had finally surmounted to zero results.

"Mommy the sky is sad, like it wants to cry." An innocent little girl said as she passed by the bench Juvia sat as her mother smiled down to her, no doubt amused with her daughter's personification of the sky.

"Then let's hope it gets better and smiles really brightly so that Mr. Sunshine can come out again and play." The mother replied as the little girl nodded agreeingly with a bright smile on her face as she skipped beside her mother.

The blue haired water mage watched as they left, most likely heading home for the day as even they couldn't be so sure of the rain and Juvia sighed to herself as she thought back to her old memory of what her little girl would've looked like in her mind. Smiling brightly in the sun with her bangs she got from Gray swishing from left to right with the curls she got from her mother bouncing with her steps, but the little girl wouldn't come to be. She hoped too much and feared just as much about the future that she overly pushed Gray and now there wasn't even the slimmest chance that he'd talk to her again.

"Kids are some of the most thoughtful people." Came an all too familiar baritone voice behind her which caused her to instinctively react as she turned around sharply. "She had a point though and I can guess why the sky would want to cry."

"Gray-sam-, er...Gray-san!" The ice mage inwardly cringed at how she tried to correct herself, understanding that she believed she didn't have the right to call him that anymore but it still felt strange to hear a different honorific. "I didn't believe you'd come here."

"Neither did I, but I think it's for the best that I did." He replied as he sat at the edge of the bench Juvia sat on, while she scooted over towards the other end and avoided making eye contact with him.

"You needn't worry for Juvia's sake, she is reimaging herself so that she doesn't become a bother to Gray-san." The water mage knew that Gray had calmed down significantly now, but she had a strong belief that he came to see her as per someone's request.

"If it means that you're going to tuck yourself away in your original ways then I'm gonna have to stop you right there." Gray looked at her sternly as she turned to him in surprise before diverting her gaze away from him once again.

"What gave Gray-san that idea?" She asked as the thought didn't cross her mind before and didn't think of it until he mentioned it.

"Shouldn't it be obvious?" Gray rhetorically asked as the sky itself was a big indicator as any, for her mood tended to coincide with how the whether is most of the time. "And why won't you even look at me?"

"Because Juvia is the last person that Gray-san would want to see, she is responsible for this whole mess that has done nothing but inconvenience you since the start." Juvia replied, holding her hands tightly as the mere mention made her feel terrible for what she did to the man she loved. "Juvia knows that Gray-san holds resentment for her and doesn't want the last visages of Gray-san to be of hate towards her."

"I don't hate you Juvia, you're my guild mate and there isn't any force out there that would make me hate any of them." Gray sighed outwardly of how far the water mage believed his anger could stretch to, which was blown a bit out of proportion as his hatred was limited to a few things. "Am I upset with what you did? Of course, but do I hate you for it? No way I could."

"So does this mean that Gray-san forgives Juvia?" The water mage asked as she allowed sparks of hope to try and ignite, but Gray was fully aware of what was happening and knew that this was where he had to make himself clear.

"I'm sorry Juvia, but this type of thing needs time to be forgiven. Not all things that happen to us are resolved the following day." The ice mage replied as Juvia now wore a dejected look, realizing that it was a bit too much to hope for his forgiveness so soon. "With time, I'm sure this could be put behind us and then I will tell you that you are forgiven."

"Juvia understands and wishes to express her sincerest apologies, her love and fear of Gray-san had blinded her of her actions. I ask that you please forgive Juvia for her misgivings." She began to bow her head in apology, but her shoulder had been held up before she could go any further.

"You don't need to be sorry Juvia, you weren't the only one at blame here." Gray said as he removed his hand, reclining a bit more into the bench as he watched the calm waves of the ocean. "It's my fault that you went this far and though I didn't see it before, I now know that my behavior didn't help anything in the long run."

"Juvia is unsure of how Gray-san is at blame."

"There's plenty to show for it; I didn't regard your feelings much at first, I wasn't upfront with how I felt with the situation and I've lead you on in a way." The raven haired mage looked back at how he acted and knew these were the main points he wanted to say to her back in Crocus after the Grand Magic Games.

"But it was Juvia who wouldn't listen to Gray-san when he asked for his space and would push her feelings onto him that she knew became overbearing on you sometimes." The blue haired woman added as his faults went hand in hand with hers. _**"The only thing that Gray-san and I share apparently..."**_

"It's best not to try and lighten the weight of problems I caused as I'm learning to accept that I've made a number of mistakes." The ice mage was already willing to deal with these facts and he couldn't let someone try to make them out as not big flaws when they were.

"But Juvia had been careless with her actions, she chose more and more drastic measures every time she failed." Juvia could recount the number of potions she's tried in the past when it didn't go her way, but this one was by far the most costly.

"Look Juvia, you and I can go back and forth for hours about who did what and I know that you'd do everything you could to lessen the blame for me," He noticed her flinch at his words, still choosing to look at her boots instead of him. "We both brought this upon ourselves and we should accept this as part of who we are."

A silence befell the two as they sat at the farthest edges of the same bench, but it was not awkward in any way. It was more of a silent acceptance that they booth understood each other's actions and mistakes, now knowing that they both played a part of the disaster waiting to happen. With the amount of reflection that Gray had been doing, he wondered how things would've been if he did things differently; a prominent one being Juvia as so much could have been resolved if he were just honest with her. It was somewhat similar in Juvia's case as well as she wondered how things would've played out if she went about this at a casual pace rather than bombarding the ice mage with her love on a daily basis. In the end they both recognized that their relationship wasn't level at all as one saw a good person trapped behind her own gloom, while the other saw a romance waiting to bloom with someone who gave her the blue sky and sun.

"As I look at it, we met under the worst of circumstances and if you're up for it then maybe we can start all over again." Gray offered as he extended his hand out towards Juvia, giving a half-smile as the water mage looked at him for the first time since her initial reaction to his arrival, "As friends and guild mates of Fairy Tail."

"Juvia gladly accepts!" The water mage said, shaking the ice mage's hand as she donned a bright smile; the dark clouds around them beginning to part as the rays of sunshine began to blanket the port town though he could tell that the sun would set soon.

"I think you should get back to the others, it's almost time to leave." Gray said as he stood up, Juvia following in suit, but was confused as to why he told her rather than say "they" since he too was coming back with them.

"Aren't you coming along as well?" She asked, watching as the ice mage's shoulders slightly slump as he looked off towards the mountain top.

"No, I've got something left to take care of." Gray replied with what she could only think of sorrow, walking off in the direction he was facing.

Juvia wished to follow him if he needed support, but something deep within her told her not to interfere. In the end she followed side by side with the raven haired mage back to the demon's village and once they were close enough he waved goodbye and continued deeper into the forest until he was out of sight. Though Gray was willing to let each other start again there was a part of her that knew it would take some time before things are truly settled between them, yet she took it with no qualm.

The ice mage had let her off easy, he was upset with her and there was no denying that, but he gave her a second chance despite what happened. She truly was glad that he was forgiving, but still felt terrible for causing him pain and wouldn't have been surprised if he dissolved everything to do with each other. Still, this would be a new turning point for her and hoped that Juvia 2.5 would have a better relationship with Gray in the future, built on trust if nothing else.

* * *

At the more secluded area of the port, where not many ships tend to dock, a red haired woman in armor leaned against one of the few small warehouses in the area as she awaited for her ride home to arrive. She wondered if her friends worried about her before they left, but trusted the idea that they knew she could take care of herself. Erza chose to stay behind, not simply because she promised the pirate captain that she'd sail with them back to the mainland, but because she wanted to be left alone. If she had to be honest, she spent the day at the peak of the mountain atop the temple ruins hoping Gray would came back and tell her that they were going home.

Needless to say that it wasn't the case since she now stood alone at the dock.

It was actually Natsu, flown over by Happy holding onto him, that came looking for her to say that they've found a boat to take them home. Of course he wasn't one for the idea of riding, as he called it, a "floating death trap" back home and wasn't fast enough to catch up to Laxus before he lightning traveled home with the rest of the Thunder Legion. It was a nice change of pace for her to see his regular self without a care in the world of what happened and it served as a nice distraction. She had soon explained that she wasn't riding the boat with them, yet the dragon slayer didn't understand her choice and had offered to go along with her. It brought a smile on her face for the first time that day of his willingness to wait with her, but she declined his offer and added that he was only delaying the inevitable.

The armored woman conceded her place at the top of the mountain and went with them back to the village, subconsciously searching out for Gray once they arrived although she wasn't sure whether it was to avoid him or try and speak to him. Erza never found him anywhere before they began saying goodbye to the demon villagers and had been later told that he was already at the port town. A group of her fellow guildmates had gone ahead before she arrived with Natsu and Happy, they were the ones to acquire a boat large enough to take them all back to the mainland and once again she didn't see the ice mage. The redhead concluded that he was already on board and again explained that she would wait for the pirates to come and pick her up to the others.

Most of her friends asked her to reconsider, but with a bit more talking she had managed to convince them otherwise. With a small smile she waved to them from the dock as their ship began to sail away before they soon became a little dot on the horizon. The sun was nearly setting when she had arrived at the pick up area and this was where she was now, waiting patiently for the pirate ship to arrive.

"Erza!" The requip mage looked around as she heard her name be called out, but the sudden urge to simply hide away pulled at her once she recognised the voice that had yelled it. "Erza, where are you!?"

The familiar baritone voice called out once again as the sound of running footsteps began to grow louder and louder. Erza had to show herself, what was she hiding from? She was considered the strongest female mage of Fairy Tail and yet her body froze all together when her eyes landed on the back of a raven haired young man she knew all too well. The redhead tried her hardest to move into view or even answer his call, but it felt as if her armor had gained an unbelieveable amount of weight suddenly and gripped her body tightly from making a sound. It was when she heard his dejected sigh that Erza knew that he had been looking for her for while and thought that she had already left the island.

"Fuck! I'm too late, she's already gone." Gray irritatedly said as he kicked a random crate in frustration, but didn't gauge his strength as his boot passed through the wood and was now stuck. "Oh for fuck's sake!"

"Gray, language!" Erza reprimanded out of habit and Gray instinctively stood as straight as he could, his once trapped foot coming to tap against his other at the heel although she was still surprised at herself by speaking out like that.

"Yes, Ma'am!" He replied until he immediately drew himself out of his conditioned stupor to turn around and find the redhead he was searching for coming out from the other side of a warehouse. "Looks like you're still here."

"Yes I am and I thought you left with the others an hour or so ago. What are you doing here Gray?" She questioned as the ice mage began walking to her, but that strange urge returned making her want to take a step back as he got closer.

"Looking for you, duh. I went all the way up the Moon Temple, but you weren't there. I came to the docks to see if anyone's seen a woman in armor anywhere and pointed in this direction." Gray explained as he drew closer until he finally stopped and sat on top of an empty crate, luckily in time before Erza's back touched the warehouse wall leaving her no more room to back up.

"Why were you looking for me, I would've thought that our last conversation would've prevented you from doing so anymore today or in the near future." Erza knew he didn't mean a word he said when he insulted her as he was up to something far greater that she barely caught on to, but was unsure about the ones concerning Jellal. "I sure would have taken the initiative to do so."

"Yeah well, I came to apologize to you." Gray began as she looked at him stoically, but she was curious as to what he had to say on the inside. "I didn't think through that whole talk correctly and all I did was make you hurt much more than I wanted you to be."

"Why apologize? You spoke from your mind without any reserves, clear enough that it was no doubt how you felt from within your heart." She countered as the ice mage was one of the few people who would truly speak out against her without fear. "You made your intentions clear and I will not refute them, but you are still my guild mate so I won't treat you any differently just because you and I had a personal spat."

"Do you hear yourself? You're taking this too lightly, like it was just some sort of scapegoated punishment the magic council was pushing onto you again." Gray would've believed that she would show more emotion, anger or anything for that matter at him and yet she spoke to him so casually. "I don't care if you're angry with me, but show it. Don't hide behind your armor with me."

"We are professional wizards Gray, our internal affairs will only blemish the guild's reputation. The trouble has passed and you've been dealing with the aftermath to the best of your abilities, so this can be filed away and be left as that." The requip mage replied as she stood steadfast with her stoic expression never wavering, crossing her arms as she once again began to lean on the warehouse wall. "Besides, can I really afford to do so with someone that has claimed not to be so close to me?"

"Don't mess with me right now Erza, I know you were fully aware of what I was saying." Gray accused sharply as he knew that pain he felt wasn't just his imagination, especially if Lulu and the other demons could sense it too. "I messed up big time today and I've replayed it over and over in my head since then and I can't stop the guilt that keeps trying to plant itself in me for what I've done."

"I am not a little girl that is afraid of being hurt anymore Gray, the demons of my past have been resolved and you were there to witness it, so why do you believe that I would hide away in my armor?" She said calmly, almost as if she was none the least affected with the ice mage's tone. "You needn't guilt yourself for expressing what you believe and though rocky the foundations of our friendship is at the moment, it's still there."

"Stop lying Erza!" Though calm and collected she was being, the ice mage had an unstoppable sense of seeing a nine year old Erza continuously burying herself deeper into a much bigger breast plate. It may seem weird of him to be able to see that, but it was the very heart of Erza he was seeing and he wasn't about to let her run away anymore. "You are afraid, you're trying to hide yourself and not only that, but you're hiding from me!"

"I don't understand what you mean, I'm standing before you as Erza Scarlet; S-class mage of Fairy Tail, your team mate and friend." Erza replied, although she was internally falling apart as Gray was seeing right through her just like she did to his words. "Showing fear is part of being human, but I do not fear you nor do I intend to hide." She added, lifting herself off the wall and turning to head for the available dock as she could see a small dot on the horizon making its way over to them.

"But you are **my** best friend, I've known you for so long and know that you are afraid of me because I made you feel alone!" His words had stopped Erza from taking another step forward, her barriers beginning to crumble as he pointed out a major point he did to her. "I promised you that you weren't alone, but I learned you depended on me so much that it was enough for you to feel all alone again when I tore our friendship apart like that."

"You promised, but I am not alone. I have Fairy Tail and all of our friends as well." Erza replied as she tried her hardest not to visibly shake at how much his words rung true.

"Sure you have them, but I'm the only on that's managed to make you take off your armor with them around." Gray was trying his hardest to keep his words in line so the red head wouldn't make the misunderstanding that he was manipulating her feelings to talk to her. "I came to apologize not only to show how much I regret treating you like that, but to also save you from falling back into your old ways."

The requip mage stayed silent, not one sign of movement coming from her as she had her back faced to Gray, but the ice mage couldn't bear to not see what she was feeling. He cautiously walked up to her and carefully put his right hand onto her shoulder and the next thing he knew, his entire body weight was shifted as he was flung over Erza's shoulder. Her tight grip still holding firmly on his arm, but as Gray looked up at her face he noticed the pools of tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

Erza couldn't hold back anymore as Gray continued to destroy every attempt to dissuade him from believing that she wasn't alright until he came to the root of it all. She loved everyone at Fairy Tail equally, but she trusted her heart to Gray and when he tore it apart it destroyed the hope she held of leaving her armor behind. He was her shield against her inner torment and it pained her like no other when he used it against her, breaking her down to pieces on the inside. When the ice mage himself pointed out what he was seeing and that she was falling back to how she was, it caused her to freeze up and drop her guard. It was pure reflex when she flipped the ice mage over her shoulder, but when she was about to release his arm, she had noticed the shield pendant she gave the raven haired mage years ago. Her memories of years past caused her to tear up for what they have and knowing that Gray still wears it to the day made her realize that he was and still would be her shield.

"This is the arm you flipped me over with the first time we fought, it will be the one to pick you up and the one you can come to cry on." Gray said trying to recount what he said all those years ago word for word, although he was sure he messed it up in some way. "Nothing will ever change what you mean to me Erza."

No words could express the myriad of emotions the redhead was feeling at that moment as it all came boiling down to her soft cries as Gray stood up again and wrapped her in his arms. She rested her head on his right shoulder as her tears continued to stream and though it wasn't the apology he expected to give, the ice mage knew it still got through to her in the end. An isolated Erza wasn't going to be great for neither the guild nor herself and at the moment, Gray's one true objective was to save his red haired best friend from herself. He gently stroked her scarlet locks tenderly as he held her close, allowing her to lean into him a bit for support and watched as the familiar skull and crossbones black sail began to dock.

"Big Sister, we've come to pick ye up and yer treasure!" The captain shouted as he climbed down from the boarding plank and was nearly up in arms at the sight of her tears. "Who done and made this lovely beauty shed tears of sorrow! They will walk the plank and rest eternally in Davey Jones' locker or me name's not Captain Marques Graybeard of the Scarlet Pearl!" He shouted as the rest of his crew hollered with him, brandishing their blades and magic pistols.

"It's quite alright Captain, but thank you for your concern." Erza calmed them down, wiping away her tears as she removed herself from the ice mage's arm.

"Again I'm sorry for everything Erza." Gray apologised once again and this time, Erza gave a kind smile as she knew when the ice mage was genuine with his words.

"Apology accepted," The requip mage replied as she took him by the hand, "So let's go home to Fairy Tail." With that she lead him to the ship as the pirates began to welcome her aboard.

It wasn't long before they set sail again and both Fairy Tailers began talking to each other again, Gray still trying to make his point clear from his apology while Erza tried her best to let him know that she got the message. The captain had a fond smile on his face as he looked on at the pair and knew that Big Sister was truly happy with the young man with hair as dark as the night sky and eyes like those of the murky deep ocean.

"Cap'n, I thought Big Sister was bringing a haul of treasure with her when she said that it had been stolen from her, but all I see is the boy." Graybeard's first mate said as he approached the helm, which overlooked the main deck where the two were currently at.

"Me boy that's the greatest treasure of all." He replied as the first mate looked at him confused and knew that he had no idea what he meant. "We plunder and adore the fine riches from those which we take from, but the greatest treasure for a young lass like Big Sister is the one of the heart."

"I don't get it Cap'n." The first mate replied and the old pirate knew that the life of a pirate hasn't shown the young man much in the way of life yet.

"Me boy, I be talking about love; one of the greatest treasures sought after by any lass of the seas or land. Big Sister came to the island of Galuna because someone had tried to steal her treasure and now she's got it back." Captain Graybeard explained and noticed the understanding look on the young man's face, telling him that he finally knew what it means for Big Sister.

"You sure know a lot Cap'n."

"Yer old Captain has been in the same position before in his younger years boy-o. Tis only natural that I know which treasure is sought after, I am the captain of this ship for a reason." He gave a hearty laugh that was a staple of any respectable plunderer of the sea and continued to sail for Fiore.

* * *

A day had passed after the main group had returned to Fairy Tail before Erza and Gray came through the guild doors together, the air slightly tensing up at the sight of the ice mage before Mira was the first to welcome them back. Soon enough others had joined in and things went back to the usual ways, albeit the odd stare here and there from a guild member that Gray would offhandedly catch during his first two hours back in the guild. The ice mage silently thanked Loke that his main plan had worked out perfectly and in time things won't be so awkward for him, but it didn't stop him from taking the random glance at the three women that were important to him from time to time.

"Welcome back Gray, but if you don't mind my boy I hear that something has happened over the past few weeks while I was away involving a wide spread potion dealing with emotions and they tell me that you are the most reliable source to fill me in of what happened." Makarov said as he made his way over towards the ice mage, the first time seeing him in over a month.

"Well Gramps I guess I'm as good a person as any who could tell you the full story correctly." Gray said as he didn't expect to retell all the events so soon to another person even when he too didn't know about certain events until Loke had told him on Galuna, but it was the Master and Gray knew that he had some form of wisdom in him for all of this.

"I greatly appreciate it Gray, please follow me to my office so I don't miss a detail." The aging master asked before a soft giggle garnered their attention as the First Master, Mavis Vermillion, appeared before them.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd also like to hear your point of view of all this Gray." Mavis asked as the ice mage merely nodded although he did slightly question why she said from his point of view, though he just assumed that she wanted to know how he made out all of this as it was happening before him.

"You wish to know as well First? I'm sure it doesn't have many interesting aspects to it." Makarov said as Gray internally thought he couldn't be any more wrong and Mavis gave him a knowing smile at his words.

"You never know Eighth, this could be a very intriguing story involving an emotion potion and our ice mage." She said still smiling as she skipped ahead and Gray could've sworn that she was looking forward to this much more than she let on.

"She is the First, but feel free to take your time recounting the events Gray. I have plenty of time to listen since I have nothing scheduled, so go ahead when you're ready." Makarov said with an understanding smile as he followed after the First Master towards his office.

"Sure thing Gramps." Gray called out to him as a smile spread across his face knowing that he had a parental figure like him to talk to.

 _ **Geez, this has been one hell of a ride and a pain in the ass, but I'm glad it's all past me now and with Gramps here I can bet he'll give me some sage words to go by."**_ Gray thought to himself as he began climbing the stairwell up to the second floor.

 _ **"But it's just another misadventure for Fairy Tail and it wouldn't be one any other way."**_ Gray jokingly added as an afterthought as he casually strolled to the master's office, humming an old hymn he picked up again from an unbelievably understanding brunette.

 **The End**

* * *

 **A/N:** _IT'S OVER! TT^TT In any case I want to thank all of you who have reviewed, followed, favorited and read my first fanfic from beginning to end. It's been a long road and this story's come a long way from its small beginning. I'd like to give a special thanks to Angelina08 for being both the first follower and review to my fic and xoMissie for being the first to add EP and AIM as a favorite, but it doesn't mean I didn't appreciate every else who also did this, they were just the firsts. To conclude this small a/n I hope you all enjoyed it very much and are willing to read any other work I post too, stay tuned because we may have an epilogue on our hands to see what happens next. Until then I'll see all of you wonderful readers in the next fic, bye!_


	35. Epilogue

Epilogue

A few weeks had gone by since Gray and the others returned to the guild after the entire emotion potion debacle on Galuna Island and things had become relatively normal again. Master Makarov was more or less amused with what transpired during the time before Gray's discovery of the potion whereupon he took on a more sympathetic look for the ice mage once he got down to the more difficult parts. The First Master looked rather normal if the ravenette had to give a word for what her reaction to all of this was, but they both had given him guiding words to help mend his strained heart. It had been a bit of a struggle for the ice mage to actually get over the fact that he chose to give up on forming any relationship with anybody, although he was glad he still had his friends around.

This was well and good but in the few weeks that followed since he recounted the story for the masters, Gray had begun to notice that he and his blonde team mate had been subconsciously keeping their distances. He fully knew that he'd try to sort out his own personal reserves of what happened with Lucy, but he noticed over time that the blonde had been growing closer with Natsu in the meantime. No, he wasn't calling her unfaithful or a contradictor to her own words as he gave her the freedom to do what she liked, but if this is what she wants then he wouldn't bother her. Though he tried not to let it bother him so much, he couldn't lie that a part of him wished that it were them like that instead. Still, he didn't pay so much attention to it as he worried over a certain white haired girl whose pain could be seen if you looked at her with a critical eye.

Lisanna herself still strived to get Natsu to notice her ever since the incident, but as she tried it seemed that it didn't have much of an effect. It didn't mean she was giving up, it's more of a standing point that she needed to try harder. Gray could no doubt tell that the effort the animal soul mage was giving would grow over time, but he also knew that she would slightly waver at the sight of the two. In the time that Lucy would hang around with Natsu and Happy, Gray would come over to speak with Lisanna to cheer her up and it left a warm spot within him to see her smile at his attempts. It was rather surprising for others to see him take an active enough role at making conversation with people since he made people come to him, so it was a refreshing sight to see.

The ice mage was more or less growing fond of Lisanna as he became closer friends with her when she was available to speak with and a part of him felt bad for their past. Gray would sometimes berate himself for not speaking with her when they were younger as there was an unlikely friendship the two could've shared. In any case, the ravenette would find himself cheering up the young Strauss from time to time when she was feeling blue and he'd give her a quick genuine smile when he knew that it was working. Speaking of blue, things between him and a certain water mage have slowly, but surely become much smoother since their rocky interaction back on Galuna.

It was awkward at first since many of their fellow guildmates heard Juvia call him by a new honorific, but nobody seemed to mind later on and accepted it. It was actually by the first week since he came back that he learned that those weird problems Natsu would get himself into stopped happening. Juvia had no idea what he was talking about when he asked her and Gray couldn't come to care much about what the pink haired slayer did to get himself in weird types of situations. Going back to the relationship he had with Juvia, Gray would be hanging out with her more so than before and the ice mage found that she was a rather fun person to be around. Even if he flat out said that a romantic relationship could not happen between them, the ravenette felt comfortable knowing that he was right when he believed they would be better off as friends. Even so, he had to give kudos to a one heck of a drinker that set him up with the right way to handle the final end of his problem.

Cana had been right when she advised him to speak to the others and fix the damage he had done, but their own relationship hadn't really changed much aside from the casual flirt she would try to squeeze in when they talked from time to time. The ice mage had to give credit to the card mage since he didn't expect her to be very quick on the up take to win him over, now that she was sure that she wanted to be with him. Even though Gray himself was still unsure of where he should stand on the subject between him and Cana. After all that had happened between them, the potion made it seem that they grew even closer together which, to Gray, was almost on the level of when he had asked the brunette to be his girlfriend. Alas, this wasn't the same case with a certain red haired armored woman that Gray knew very well.

To the public eye, there wasn't anything that would tell them that Erza and Gray's bond was any different since they acted normally with each other, but they were wrong. It was all an illusion that was in place for others to see as the ice mage was more than aware of this fortified feeling he'd get when he was around the armored woman, like a small barrier between them that he couldn't seem to pass. The requip mage did not regress to her old ways of sealing herself away from the guild, rather she created this unknown barrier which opened a rift between Gray and her. A part of Gray's heart clenched at the thought that she had learned to only guard herself from that which will hurt her and he had made the list, but wouldn't fall to its sadness and he saw it as a better form of her self preservation tactics advancing.

Pain was an evident thing he felt when Erza would come around or if it was just them two, whether left alone with each other or the others were too distracted to get them out of speaking was all the same to garner silence. The red head seemed to be fine with what happened in the end and his apology back at the docks of Galuna, but Gray knew that Erza was someone who needed time to heal; just like he did. It was a pain he was willing to bear for her sake and did everything in his power to let her know that he understood what she was doing.

Gray nor anyone else may have realized it then, but things would only grow darker in time as the life of the guild they knew was going to experience the eclipse of their bright sun, the flames of Hell raining down upon them and a war that will strain them to their very limit.

* * *

~ _Two months after Galuna~_

The situation between Lucy and her spirits was quite worrisome as the familiarity they all shared with them had been perverted by the residue of the Eclipse Gate. No one had expected for her spirits to rebel and though the damage was minimal, it still caused a strain on the blonde who feared for her spirits to no end.A fight to save the friends she cared about was on for the celestial mage and Gray, along with their guild mates, were willing to help bring them back. The ice mage was tasked with sealing away Cancer and he couldn't lie that he was a bit glad he wasn't in charge of searching for Loke ,even though his "fight" had him do something so embarrassing as dancing. In any case, he and the lion spirit had fallen on bad terms since he declined becoming an item with Lucy and knew that if it was coming down to blows to save Loke's life, then they'd both end up bloody heaps before the day was done. Luckily for him or so he guesses, Natsu had been tasked with bringing Loke back, for what reason aside from hurting Lucy was unclear to Gray, although it was only natural for the hot head to be a hero these days in the ice mage's opinion.

Through a long series of battles and a final boss battle with the Eclipse King, Fairy Tail had come out victorious and brought Lucy's spirits back from the brink of their deaths, although he expected the few looks of disdain when they were all together with Lucy. Many of them claim to have no memory of the events that had transpired, but Loke had braved himself to speak with Gray in private to say that they had lied. The lion spirit explained that the eclipse revealed the complete opposite of who they truly were and the forms they had taken were permanent, but had control over which form they wanted to take. Gray was of course skeptical at first as to why he told him this rather than Lucy as she was his master and Loke admitted that the ice mage was a trusted friend he could go to for help.

The ice mage was actually surprised by that claim as he never thought that Loke still considered him much of a trusted friend, so he only thought himself as just a friend on a low pedestal. It took time for Gray to actually find the words he wanted to say to Loke, mainly struggling with the fact that they could've gone back to talking to each other some time ago if they weren't so stubborn.

A long conversation soon followed with the gist of it being that Loke was regretful for acting so brash against Gray and that the other spirits would like to apologize for their behavior. Not Aquarious of course as she held too much pride to apologize to a stripper like him, Loke had repeated the mermaid's words to show he had no say in what she believed. In the end Gray gave his honest opinion of the matter and informed Loke that Lucy had a right to know what really happened. It was by the thanks he received from the blonde in the days following that he knew that the strawberry blonde finally spoke to Lucy, but their conversation at the time and the others down the line were short and continued to be so for the next few months.

Nothing really changed for them and would go on like so until the next major threat to their family would arise from the shadows.

* * *

~ _Four months after Galuna~_

Sealed away fears and memories of a life long since dead began to haunt Gray as a threat to the magical world itself reared its ugly head in Earth Land. Fairy Tail was a magnet for trouble, but on the scale in which it was life or death for not only the guild, but Fiore wizards was a taller order than they've ever faced. During this time, Gray was exposed to a variant of ice magic the likes of which he had never seen before, but he'd also been exposed to the fact that the very demons he feared in secret were out there and making their move. It was a dark time for the ice mage and the guild as lives upon lives were being lost and a betrayal so unforeseen had left them nearly crippled at the hands of the enemy. Hardships were laid abound for many of Fairy Tail, but the weight of loss was far greater for the ice mage and Natsu. The latter never discovering the true origin of the unbelievable power his best friend would later on acquire, but gaining it was what tore Gray at his heart.

He fought a figure that loved him, that cared for him, that wanted nothing more than to make sure he lived a peaceful life before it was all taken away from him in a single night. Gray fought the one man he shed tears for as he stared at his lifeless body in front of him, merely moments after his mother's sacrifice to save him when he was just a little boy. Fate had a disgusting sense of humor and no matter how hard the ice mage fought, no matter how much he proved that he had a reason to live, he could not bring himself to kill his own father. Though this feeling was not only felt by him as other people were made aware of his pain.

Juvia could feel the danger Gray was in and although the two weren't going to be romantically involved anymore, she still created a special bond with the ice mage that wavered with danger. It was only when she received a telepathic message from an unknown individual to defeat Keyes did she discover the greatest act of betrayal she would ever do to Gray. Although Juvia was not aware of the fact that she wasn't the first to receive this message as one had been sent out to Erza, the requip mage only regarding it as a voice of encouragement in her mind to defeat her opponent, Kyoka, and do her best to move on and protect the people she cared about. In that instance she could have sworn an image of Gray had popped up in her mind, followed by a soft chuckle before it disappeared into the ether of her mind as she fought against her foe.

Across from these battles where a majority of Fairy Tail was fighting, Cana breathed in some air as she was becoming exhausted with all the magic expenditure she was doing fighting off Tartaros' forces. Until a voice rang out in her head amongst all the chaos to thank her, she immediately questioned who it was and was only responded with a light hearted chuckle before it spoke again. The voice had explained that he was grateful to her for saving his son from the darkest depths of his inner demons and showing him the love he had been robbed of when he was younger. The brunette tried her best to understand what he was talking about, mainly who it was even talking to her through telepathy, until the next couple of words gave it away.

The voice thanked her one more time before it began to fade and asked her one last favor; to watch over Gray for him and his mother. It dawned on the card mage that she received words from the ice mage's father and knew that wherever he was now was taking its toll on him and she worried for what would happen next. Her love for him wouldn't allow her to fall to the enemy, but she herself knew that her strength wouldn't be able to save Gray. In the end she could only rely on her family and any of their friends who were closer to him to save him on her behalf.

Those had been their thoughts as Gray solemnly watched his father disappear before his very eyes into particles, his tears slowly falling to the destroyed rubble at his feet. Though it was the moment in which his father had left him his power that the ravenette walked with purpose to eliminate the one being causing his family pain. Even the likes of Tempester, the Etherious giving even Gajeel a hard time, was no match for his new power and determination as Gray cut him down with a single attack. Nothing was going to hold the newly christened devil slayer back as every step he took brought him closer to ending the pain for everyone.

After a gruelling battle against Mard Geer with Natsu at his side, Gray couldn't come to find the peace he was searching for once the Tartaros leader had been defeated. It didn't help anything once Zeref had arrived to take the book of E.N.D. away from his hands, the demon his father had entrusted him to destroy. Though the end result of all their fighting was not met with any happy ending as Master Makarov had decided to disband the guild and Gray was not one to oppose the idea outwardly. That same night, he had packed some of his belongings and headed out for Isvan well before anyone knew what he was doing.

Except for Juvia who had intercepted him on his way towards the train station and allowed her to tag along with him in the end. A decision he would never come to regret as she was the saving grace he needed to show him that his nightmares, his fears, his doubts were finally put to rest. That the young boy who was trapped behind his ice with his guilt and sadness was allowed to be free, was allowed to know some of his pain was over.

Gray didn't know if Juvia was aware that the ice mage she knew was a facade shielding an eight year old boy that wanted to shun the world for what it has done to him, but was thankful to have her with him at his parents' grave. Just by her being there, like a symbol that he was no longer alone in the world, brought him peace that had eluded him so many times over with the exception of his time with Cana.

The ice mage felt her warmth, the warmth of someone that cared for him and understood that though platonic their relationship will be, Juvia would be there for him. This was once again a moment where he found that piece that had been missing from him, a time where he could truly be himself since his arrival to Fairy Tail, though it wouldn't last long for him. His life had later on become one of a spy amongst a cult wanting to bring about Zeref six months from that day and he would even later become a freedom fighter against the might of the Alvarez Empire. That war was a defining moment for the ice mage, forever engraved in his memory as the worst time of his life and the placeholder of his greatest regret.

* * *

~ _Three years after Galuna_ ~

Gray put down the latest issue of _Sorcerer's Magazine_ on the tree stump he was sitting next to as he had gone through most of the articles and news about the wizarding world. He was quite surprised to see the major headliner as "Fairy Tail's Cutest Couples" mainly centering around the ones he had foreseen like Gajeel and Levy, Elfman and Evergreen along with Mirajane and Laxus. What he hadn't expected were the shots centering on the biggest talk of them all of Lisanna and Natsu with a few suggested sprinkles of Wendy and Romeo. The ice mage had to give editors credit that they do have good hooks to get people to read, but in the end he was truly happy for both girls.

Fairy Tail had been through so much that it was great to see the happy smiles everyone wore greatly captured in photos and the blushing faces of those who noticed the cameras at the last second. There had been one article centered around Fairy Tail that really brought a warm smile on his face which focused on the guild's new S-Class mage; Cana Alberona. According to the past issues, she hadn't really focused on partaking in the trials until this year where she had succeeded with flying colors. A part of Gray was proud of her now that she had finally achieved her dream, even though Gildarts was well aware of her daughter status to him.

The guild was doing great, everyone was making a life of their own now that a new peace had come and their lives seemed great. Amongst all those thoughts, the ravenette's nostalgic smile faded away as he wasn't around to enjoy those moments with them. It was a surreal feeling he had knowing that it had been two years since the war with Alvarez and yet he was holding on to a past he wouldn't be able to go to again. This was his sin to carry and he couldn't complain about it to anyone as he brought this upon himself, but he'd be lying if he said that it didn't bother him a bit. He's got a few other sins that weigh heavily on him, so what's one more on his shoulders going to do? Or so he tells himself to deal with it when he's stuck thinking about his old friends from time to time.

"Master Gray, how long do I have to keep doing this!?" A young voice called out, her brunette hair swaying with the cold wind as she was still set up in her Ice Make stance.

"Until you can create a shield strong enough to withstand one of my snowballs, Yuki!" Gray called back as he made his way over towards his student, very much impressed with her progress since she first came.

"That's not fair, your snowballs can go through a wall." The little ice mage-in-training complained as her teacher stood next to her, removing his cloak and shirt as he took a similar stance like her.

"Guess I'll have to keep teaching you. Now mimic my movements alongside me and focus, I'll teach you the steps but you've got to put in your own power."

Yes this is where his life now resides, not in a guild filled with people he considered as his family after the loss of two prior ones, but on the outskirts of New Deliora. Living once again in his home country of Isvan with his brand new student who sought him out across the expanse of this cold country. His time in Fairy Tail was over, his time as a respected mage done with and the people he cared about none the wiser of who he is. He is a mere stranger to them; nothing more, nothing less.

What else could the ravenette expect after being branded a traitor to Fairy Tail and banished by order of Master Makarov and Mavis from the guild. Although he was considered a fallen fairy by Mavis herself, the ice mage knew this is where he now belonged.

Nonetheless, Gray will always care about the people he loves even if he no longer is one of them and hopes the best for them. This is the life he now leads, his life as the one who's isn't there walking alongside Fairy Tail; his family.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Better late than never for an epilogue, but here it is. To be honest my second fic can be a stand alone, but it first started out as my idea for a continuation of this fic although in that one there won't be a focus on romance. Yes TOWIT is like a sequel and not a sequel to this story, but I wanted things to tie together in the end like I originally planned on my "concept board" of how EPandAIM would flow. For that guest reviewer that caught those bits of info, yes I am saying that and to know somewhat more about it, I ask that you read my second fic. That goes for anyone else who wishes to see what lays in store for Fairy Tail, Gray and his student. Feels weird to push the complete button again, but I wanted to post this in the end. Hope you enjoyed it as this truly concludes Emotion Potion and an Ice Mage._


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